On the Night of the Fire

Lots of river views in this production set in Newcastle upon Tyne starting with the Tyne Bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead. A similar view appears in ‘The Ballad of Tam Lin’ and the iconic bridge also features in ‘Payroll’, ‘Get Carter’, 'Stormy Monday', ‘The Likely Lads’ and ‘The Clouded Yellow’. Paul Fitzpatrick advises that this was shot from the top of what is now Vermont Hotel in Newcastle and he stood on the spot when he worked there three years ago, the rest of the roof top he says is now a garden for private functions. (RL)

David Pike took this shot from the top of the castle on Castle Garth. The building filling the lower left of the view is the Vermont Hotel described by Paul. (RL)

The River Tyne with the dual deck road and rail High Level Bridge crossing the scene.

Dave Pike provides comparative shot that includes the bridge closed, it would have been open to allow the ship in the capture to pass. (RL)

Will Kobling (Ralph Richardson) stands on the quayside watching ships and boats. Looking up river on Quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne, part of Tyne & Wear since 1974.

A further comparative shot from Dave. (RL)

Through an open factory window on a side street the hard up barber sees coins and banknotes on a desk.

Paul Fitzpatrick provides this shot of The Close, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne, telling us that whilst there is now no open window with the Copthorne Hotel occupying the left hand side the same warehouses remain to the right. The King Edward V11 rail bridge with cross girders are still evident in distance, whilst the newer blue bridge foreground is the metro bridge Queen Elizabeth 2. (RL)

Having taken the cash, Will and his wife Kit (Diana Wynyard) go shopping at a riverside market. More of Quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne NE1.

A more pedestrian friendly quayside recorded by Dave. (RL)

Will is followed by two detectives after he kills a draper who was blackmailing him, during a fire at a warehouse. Steven Thompson explains that the staging in the distance is a clue that this was shot downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne in Davis Street, Wallsend, one of the terraced streets which overlooked the slipways of Swan Hunter's shipbuilding yard.

Tony Leighton explains that Davis Street is now part of the Segudunum Roman Fort and Museum site. The white building in the centre is is a reconstruction of the Roman baths which stands at the dead end of where Davis Street stood. The shipyard gantries in the capture that were beyond the end of Davis Street stood at the head of a slipway that leads down to the location of the Wallsend ferry landing seen in 'Get Carter'.

The barber crosses waste ground before finding the men waiting for him ahead.

Confronting the men but getting no response, Will continues his journey down one of the city's numerous chares. In the dialect of north-east England, a chare is a narrow medieval street or alley.

Dave Pike tells us that there has been much debate over the location of this chare as there are many similar in Newcastle. On studying evidence a collective decision has decided that these stairs are the Long Stairs on Newcastle Quayside. The same stairs feature in 'Get Carter', 'Payroll' and even the 'Clouded Yellow'. In the intervening years the sides have been patched up, windows and doorways bricked up its like a patchwork quilt says Dave. (RL)

At the bottom of the chare the two men catch up with Will. The now lost Ouseburn Road with Ouseburn Viaduct to the top. The route of the roads is traced by pathways beneath the Byker Metro Viaduct.

Paul Fitzpatrick provides an up to date shot of the same but much changed location. (RL)

When Will knocks at the door of a Charwoman, the two wait across the road. This bridge crosses the Ouse Burn as it passes between Ouseburn Viaduct and Byker Bridge.

This further shot from Paul reveals a still very recognisable spot. (RL

The railway viaduct running eastward from Newcastle Central with the Tyne Bridge approach road passing beneath.

Dave Pike provides this picture taken from the top of the Castle Keep looking east along the track. The Tyne Bridge approach road runs under the railway lines between the dark grey multi story car park and the light grey office block of Cuthbert House (mid picture). As can be seen the skyline has completely changed since 1939 and as a consequence Dave's only guide was the curve of the track and the church spire of the Parish Church of Saint Ann on City Road in the distance. (RL)

A pan starts with a view of the Tyne Bridge and the spire of All Saints Church in the left distance. The city of Newcastle upon Tyne and it's various bridges are seen in 'Payroll', 'Get Carter and 'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads'.

Dave provides us with a more colourful shot of the same location today, remarking, with shared surprise, that so many of the original building have survived. (RL)

Newcastle Swing Bridge seen from the Gateshead side of the River Tyne with the River Police Station on Pipewellgate in the foreground. The bridge is also seen in ‘Schizo’, ‘Get Carter’ and ‘Payroll’.

Dave took this shot of the Swing Bridge from the Gateshead side He was standing amongst a lot of trees so he couldn't get the elevation. However, he was rewarded to see that the original building is still there in the foreground. (RL)

The camera continues to pan to bring the High Level Bridge into shot. The scene appears to have been filmed from Bankwell Lane in Gateshead, County Durham.

Dave took this from the same spot as Capture 13 as there is now a new building left of shot. Unfortunately it blocks the original view as the old stone steps run behind it where the original shot was probably taken. The roof top bottom right of Capture 14 looks like the blue/sand building in his picture so he and we are pleased to see that it has also survived. (RL)