POPULAR children's TV drama series, Byker Grove, has been given a makeover by animation, graphics and special effects company Mere Mortals.

The Newcastle firm was commissioned by the show's producers, Zenith North, to create a new title sequence for the programme, based on Tyneside.

The tea-time favourite is starting its 15th series and needed an opening sequence which reflected the way the programme has developed during the past 15 years. David Jeffries, managing director of Mere Mortals, said: "The brief was to create a sequence which retains the North-East identity of the programme, plays on the familiarity viewers feel with the main characters, but also reflects the new pacey, dramatic and trendy feel to the show.

"It was certainly a challenging project. We had a total of 30 seconds to introduce all the main characters and blend this with images of the city, footage from the show and of course present the Byker Grove branding."

Mere Mortals is based in Pink Lane's Silicon Alley, in Newcastle.

Since the company's formation in 1999 by animation expert David Jeffries and programming and games developer Graeme Love, Mere Mortals has more than trebled in size and boasts a client list including Zenith North, Nova International, Tyne Tees Television, Alto Productions, Liberty Bell, BBC, BSkyB, Channel 4 and Granada.