00:01So let's start our What's On guide at Newcastle Theatre Royal where one of the North East best
00:07known television stories is returning to the city that inspired it. Our Friends in the North,
00:13The Thatcher Years runs from the 15th to the 24th of October. Original writer Peter Flannery has
00:20adapted his landmark BBC drama for the stage, revisiting Nicky, Geordie, Tosca and Mary during
00:28the political and social upheaval of the early 1990s. And we stay in Newcastle where Professor
00:36Brian Cox brings his new live show emergence to the Utilita Arena on the 17th of October.
00:44Cox describes it as his most ambitious live production yet, combining cosmology, biology,
00:51philosophy and history with huge LED screens, music, film, sound and lighting. So if your idea
00:59of a night out involves contemplating the universe rather than just the pub, that could be the one
01:04for you. The Utilita Arena then hosts one of the biggest nights in British and Irish music. The
01:11Mercury Prize takes place on the 22nd of October celebrating 12 albums of the year. The shortlist
01:19includes Dave, Florence and the Machine, Jade, Olivia Dean, Ray, Suede and Paul McCartney,
01:26along several of our artists. If you fancy something spookier, Beamish is transforming itself into the
01:34Unliving Museum of the North for Halloween evenings on the 28th, 30th and 31st of October. Expect
01:42eerie goings on around Pockley Old Hall, the Pip Village, Edwardian streets and 1950s town,
01:49with entertainment across the museum and rides at the fairground. There's more Halloween fun further
01:55south at Ormsby Hall near Middlesbrough. The National Trust property will be decorated with monsters
02:01and Halloween surprises from the 24th of October to the 1st of November. Special evening openings take
02:09place on the 28th and 29th, while selected daytime dates include The Skeleton Bride from The Walking
02:15Theatre Company. And finally, Billy Elliot the Musical comes to Sunderland Empire from the 4th to the 28th
02:24of November. The award-winning show, setting a northern mining community during the 1984 miners strike,
02:31follows Billy from the boxing ring to ballet class with music by Alton John. It's a story with deep roots
02:38in
02:38this part of the country, so its return to a north-east stage should be something particularly special.
02:46Well there really is something for almost everyone this autumn, and that's you updated with our
02:52Watson guide. Wherever you're heading, wherever you're doing, do make sure that you do have an absolutely
02:58lovely time.
