STEVE PRATT talks to the North-East stars who are featured on Newcastle's Sunday For Sammy charity concert recordings now on release THE Sunday For Sammy charity concerts have become a keenly-awaited fixture on Tyneside. But as they're only held every two years and are sell-outs, there are always plenty of disappointed people who can't get tickets.

Tim Healy and Jimmy Nail, two of the Geordies behind the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund, are hoping the release of the concert on DVD, video and audio CD will not only satisfy demand to see the show but also raise more funds for the charity. Friends were shocked when Sammy Johnson died in 1998, aged 50, after collapsing with a heart attack while jogging near his home in Marbella.

The Wallsend-born actor was best known as Jimmy Nail's sidekick Stick in the TV series Spender. "It was such a huge shock when he died, he was such a young fit lad, " recalls Healy, chairman of the fund which awards grants to performers from Tyneside.

"He was a great friend. We started off our careers at Live Theatre in Newcastle and became best friends." He and Nail, who first met Johnson during the filming of the Auf Wiedersehen Pet series, decided to set up the fund. Together with other Tynesiders, they've staged fund-raising bi-annual concerts at Newcastle City Hall. The 2004 show also features Auf Wiedersehen colleague Kevin Whately, Denise Welch and AC/DC/s Brian Johnson among the performers. The show has been directed for DVD and video by Geoff Wonfor, who's worked on The Tube. "You can't get a better person. What we wanted to do if it was going to be filmed was to get the atmosphere of a live concert, " says Healy.

At the launch, Nail echoed that view. "It's worth bearing in mind what you see is not a TV programme but a two-hour depiction of the whole concert. We wanted it to be what it was on the night rather than a tidied up thing for TV." Since the fund, which is managed by the Community Foundation, was set up, over 30 grants have been awards totalling over £22,000.

An earlier charity show was also responsible for the revival of Auf Wiedersehen Pet on the BBC after a 15-year absence when Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote a sketch for the concert. Healy, Nail and the rest of the gang are heading for Malaysia to film a twohour special in June, scheduled for screening over Christmas. The cast's individual work commitments make it increasingly difficult to get them all together. "It's a lot easier to do a special because it's only six weeks filming, " explains Healy. On more Pet gang outings he says: "Who knows? If the writers keep coming up with the ideas. . ."

The Sunday For Sammy DVD, video and audio CD is available at retailers across the North-East or by mail order from Windows, Central Arcade, Newcastle. Details on www. sundayforsammy. com

Published: 29/04/2004