WHEN Luke Casey was working for BBC's Nationwide in London while still living in the North-East, his colleagues in the capital would ask him, "what's it like up there?".

He didn't mince his words. "I always said, 'it's dreadful, shocking, you don't want to go anywhere near it'."

His motive was simple. He wanted to keep the place to himself. "A one-man campaign to keep them down there" is how he describes it, while reporting that the secret is out and word has got about of the delights of the Dales. Casey now makes a living out of showing Tyne Tees and Yorkshire Television viewers how great the place is, with The Dales Diary beginning its twelfth series.

Now one of the longest-running programmes on TV, Casey is the guide who meets people and shows places in the area. No frills, no gimmicks, just honest-to-goodness people and places.

Back in 1992, when the first entry was made in The Dales Diary, Casey had a sense that the series might last. "It had a feeling of longevity about it, particularly after the first programme was so well received," says the award-winning TV reporter and presenter. "There seemed to be a real appetite for that kind of television. It's a strange sort of programme. It's not just the number of people who watch it, but the degree of interest they have. It's liked by both Dales folk, who regard it as their own programme, and also by many people who've never had much to do with the country."

Casey is a former reporter on The Northern Echo, where he wrote the Men and Affairs column, a forerunner of the John North column. He joined the BBC Look North team in the late 1960s, moving on to BBC's Nationwide in the mid-1970s. Although the programme was London-based, he insisted on continuing to live in the North-East. Now he's back at Tyne Tees, where he works on news programmes as well as private projects. And, of course, he continues his entries in The Dales Diary.

The idea arose when an old friend from Nationwide came north to run an independent production company, and was mulling over programmes to make with Tyne Tees. He recalled Casey's love of "wide open spaces" and talking about the Dales, and suggested it as a basis for a series.

The original title The Dalesman was rejected as being too close to the name of a real-life magazine, and so The Dales Diary was born.

"We didn't want to totally confine it. We wanted to be free to wander about. A sort of Down Your Way in the countryside," explains Casey.

The series is filmed over many months to reflect the changing seasons. Spring and autumn are the best times in the Dales, he says, with remarkable light and beautiful colours. There's never any shortage of people willing to take part. You get the impression they're almost queuing up to talk to him.

'It's very flattering that Dales folk regard it as their own programme," he says. "I think that's because it has integrity and doesn't patronise country people.

"In the past, there has been a tendency, particularly from programme-makers from the centre, London and the such, to find country folk vaguely amusing and to patronise them. I was determined that country folk would identify with the programme."

Inevitably, things have altered since the series began in 1992, although he says "it's almost the more it changes, the more it stays the same". Some characters have died, but he can tell from talking to people that "trainee" characters are preparing to fill the gap. "The remoteness of the Dales' way of life used to be one of its drawbacks, in many ways now that remoteness is its salvation. You can have television, cars and four-wheel drives that go up fells, but one thing you can't do is bring the town closer to the country," he says.

"One of the sad changes is the house prices. People are discovering the Dales, which is not immune to house price influences, and cottoned on it's special and a nice place to live. Sadly, word has got out about the Dales and youngsters can't afford the houses now."

Reaction to the series has been very gratifying, with no TV barrier where the viewer feels separate from the presenter. People just come up to him and launch into a conversation about it. "They come up and tell you things," he says. "I know colleagues who come out for the first time are always amazed by the reaction it gets out on the road. Over a normal day, dozens and dozens of people will come up to us with nice things to say. They do enjoy it."

Equally pleasing is that others have seen that the country is a good subject for TV programmes. Whether it's country houses or country pursuits, out of town topics have come more to the fore in recent years. Casey also likes to think it's because of the style as well as the content.

At one point, he mentions The Dales Diary as not being "coarse". Later he says: "I don't think it's a fascination with all things country, just maybe people getting a little fed up with bargain basement type television."

Naturally enough, Casey lives in the country - in a house with seven acres of land between Stockton and Darlington. Among his five children, Siobhan has followed him into TV reporting and Daniel is an actor, most notably as Sgt Troy in ITV's Midsomer Murders. Despite his obvious championing of the region, Casey actually comes from Ireland. He arrived in the North-East with his family as a youngster. Now he's an enthusiastic ambassador, saying: "Here in the North-East we have some of the most wonderful scenery, and it's nice as a programme-maker to go and do it justice."

* The Dales Diary returns to Tyne Tees Television on Thursday at 7.30pm.

Published: 02/08/2003