The Tyne and Wear Metro has featured in a new series of short-form dramas made for the BBC.
DOPPELGÄNGER, which premiered on BBC Three on Sunday night, 1 February, and is also available on iPlayer, was shot across Metro locations, including on board a train and at St James station in Newcastle, as well as other locations in the city.
We were delighted to provide some of the backdrop for a locally made production for a national TV audience.
Metro appears at the opening of the programme in a series of cinematic camera shots where a red ballon can be seen floating down the escalator at St James Metro station before drifting on board a train.
The 15-minute film is a dark comedy about the repercussions of meeting your exact double, while exploring the issues of identity, parental expectations, and the pressures of being compared to other people.
It is part of a new collection of seven original short-form dramas from BBC Writers and created by emerging writers, directors and producers from across the UK.
Written by Newcastle-based playwright Alison Carr and directed by award-winning filmmaker Zak Harney, DOPPELGANGER follows Josie, a frayed twenty-something who has spent the last decade locked in an escalating feud with her doppelgänger - another young woman with the same name, same birthday, and a disturbingly similar life.
The film has been funded by BBC Writers as part of the Long Story Short strand and North East Screen.
It is Gateshead-based Candle & Bell's third BBC commission, following two series of the Radio 4 comedy Tom & Lauren Are Going OOT! The company has been supported by the BBC Small Indie Fund three times.
Helen Mathews, Commercial Director at Nexus, said: “It’s great that Metro has appeared in this brilliant new drama for BBC Three. We were delighted to work with the team at Candle & Bell on the project.
“Metro is part of everyday life in our region and provides some great backdrops for filming of this kind.”
Maria Caruana Galizia, Director and Founder of Candle & Bell, said: "The Metro is part of the DNA of this region - those black and yellow carriages carry thousands of people through their daily lives. For 'Doppelganger,' we wanted to ground the story in that familiar, shared experience. The Metro team were brilliant in helping us capture something that feels authentically North East, and we're grateful to them for making the filming possible.
"This film proves what's possible when a regional production receives proper support. We're not making 'regional content' - we're making ambitious, technically sophisticated work that happens to be made in the North East.
“It shows our ambition as a company to work with writers and directors who want to make work set in the region that resonates with audiences nationally and internationally."
DOPPELGÄNGER is available to watch again on BBC iPlayer: