ACTOR Tim Healy has joined forces with footballing legend Peter Beardsley to promote a cause close to their hearts.

Four years ago popular Geordie actors Tim Healy, Jimmy Nail and Kevin Whately got together to organise a charity concert in memory of Sammy Johnson, a much loved Tyneside actor who died at the age of 49.

The three friends, who had worked together on the hit TV series Auf Wiedersehen Pet, decided to revive the show on stage, calling it Sunday for Sammy. All proceeds went to Sammy's charity, the Community Foundation, which helps talented people pursue a career in the performing arts.

Two more concerts are to be held so Healy and Beardsley put up the first of the show's promotional posters on the Tyne and Wear Metro System, courtesy of Nexus, one of the show's sponsors.

Healy, who starred in the Tom Hadaway play The Pigeon Man at the Customs House, in South Shields, South Tyneside, said: "We never expected, after the first Sunday for Sammy concerts, that this would spawn a whole new interest in Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

"We never imagined how popular the Newcastle City Hall shows would become."

The stars of Auf Wiedersehen Pet return to Newcastle on February 1, when they appear at the Sunday for Sammy concerts at 4pm and 8pm at the City Hall.

They will be joined by other stars, including Bryan Johnson from AC/DC, Lindisfarne, Brendan Healy, Peter Beardsley, Denise Welch and her friends from Coronation Street. Call the box office on 0191-261 2606.

After a successful comeback series, the cast has finished the new series of Auf Wiedershehen Pet, which will be shown in January.