You would never have guessed that Byker Grove had been off TV for eight years when the audience packed Newcastle's Tyneside Cinema for a sell-out North East and the Border Centre event celebrating the Geordie children's drama. Former cast and crew were reunited at 'Byker Grove: all grown up?' in November, 25 years after the groundbreaking show first aired. Matthew Robinson, the original producer, revealed that the BBC initially commissioned six programmes. Untrained child actors with Geordie accents could have been a ratings risk but, after seeing the first few days' rushes, executives gave the green light to two more series. Actors Lyndyann Barrass (Spuggie), Andrew Hayden-Smith (Ben) and Chelsea Halfpenny (Lucy) all joined as children, but grew up on screen.
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