THIS week 15 years ago, the next series of made-in-Newcastle Byker Grove was to be the last. After 17 years and 344 episodes, the BBC was axing the still-popular children's television show.
The series had been responsible for launching a number of careers, including bringing top duo Ant and Dec together, as well as featuring ground-breaking storylines on topics including teenage pregnancy, drug addiction, child abuse, abortion and homosexuality.
The axing was particularly ruthless because it was not being blamed on falling ratings or standards. The BBC was killing off the series because it doesn't fit into what Richard Deverell, Controller BBC Children's, calls "our portfolio of programmes and services and our focus on the primary school age group".