Mark Herman: My Yorkshire

MARK Herman wrote and directed the films Brassed Off and Little Voice. He also adapted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas for the screen and directed it. He lives in York.

What’s your first memory of being outdoors?

That’s not an easy one to kick off with, especially with me being predominantly an indoors sort of person and first memories being over half a century ago, but it would be in our garden in Bridlington. Nothing beautiful or profound, probably just the usual stuff, pulling petals off flowers or legs off insects.

Did living by the sea hold any particular magic for you? Does it now?

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Ah, the magic of Bridlington. I think anyone born and bred on the coast misses out a bit on the excitement that inlanders feel about the seaside simply because for them it’s just the norm. We used to live right on the sea-front, and yes I did love it, but probably not as much as the friends who would come and stay. They’d want to be down on the beach as soon as they woke up. To hear the sea at night was great, though. I still love the sea, but can’t and never could stand the beach. It’s okay on the day, but it’s the weeks and even months later when you’re still finding sand everywhere. I prefer the memories to be in my head rather than in my socks.

What’s your favourite part of the county and why?

I like the North York Moors, and the coast around Whitby. But I do like my home city of York. As a writer as well as a director, I get to spend a lot of time here, the writing half, but my work does demand frequent trips to London. I feel very lucky, with the job that I have, to still be able to live in a place like York, and for London to only be a tricky crossword away on the train.

What’s your idea of a perfect weekend/day out in Yorkshire?

Sorry to disappoint, but I find it’s the people, not the places, that make the perfect days out. For example, I could be having a perfect Yorkshire lunch with a perfect Yorkshire pint in a perfect Yorkshire pub with a perfect view over the Yorkshire Dales, but if I only had Piers Morgan for company, I might be wishing I was on my own standing in the rain in Lancashire.

Do you have a favourite walk, or view?

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My favourite view is often from my seat at Hull City’s KC Stadium, although it can also just as often be my least favourite. Other than that, and more consistently pleasing, probably Bempton Cliffs.

Which Yorkshire stage or screen star (past or present) would you like to take for lunch?

I would imagine Charles Laughton would have made a lunch pretty entertaining, pretty lengthy and pretty sizeable, so I’d only choose him if he was paying. As for the ones who are still around, I’d like to chew the cud with Sir Tom Courtenay, perhaps restricting theatrical anecdotes to the starter, leaving the main course and pudding free to discuss his other love, the aforementioned Hull City.

If you had to name your Yorkshire hidden gem, what would it be?

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If I named it, it wouldn’t be hidden any more. A gem that’s out in the open but perhaps not that well known is the flood plain of Clifton Ings in York. It’s handy dog walking territory for us, and it’s great to feel you’re in the open countryside so close to the city centre. Of course, it’s not such a pleasant walk when the Ouse is high and it’s put to its rightful use as washlands to prevent flooding in the city centre.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

Sorry to disappoint again, but I’m not wholly convinced it has one. There’s the usual list of cartoon clichés, but I don’t buy into them. I think there’s much less of a Yorkshire identity as a northern one, very discernible from southern, but very little as far as “identity” goes to separate Yorkshire from any of our neighbours.

Do you follow sport in the county, and if so what?

Yes, football, and specifically Hull City. I’ve followed them through thin and thin since 1964. As football crazy kids in Bridlington, the Tigers were the nearest best thing for my brothers and me. They were Division Three at the time, but it was the Waggy and Chilton era and very exciting to watch. Many City supporters adored the recent two-year stint in the Premiership but I wasn’t one of them. I found the journey, though often arduous, much more enjoyable than the arrival.

Do you immerse yourself in Yorkshire’s cultural life?

If that means drinking warm beer with a head on it, then yes, quite frequently. Otherwise, nothing that I’m aware of as being specifically Yorkshire.

Do you have a favourite restaurant or pub?

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Best fish and chips: Viking Fisheries on Anlaby Road in Hull where the small fish special is a pre-match must. Best local (for me) is a restaurant: Café No.8 on Gillygate in York. My favourite York pubs are The Blue Bell on Fossgate, and The Minster Arms in Marygate. I now fully expect lifelong discount from all these establishments.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

Betty’s has a strange hypnotic effect. Whenever I go near the window I’m suddenly under the false illusion that I can afford to go in. It’s probably less their witchcraft and more my own reckless desire to consume pastries, however exorbitantly priced.

Who is the Yorkshire man or woman you most admire?

At the time of writing (England becoming No 1 Test Team), Tim Bresnan, but I imagine that’s only very temporary. Under more normal and consistent circumstances probably Alan Bennett. I’m pleased he’s never really become a professional Yorkshireman, something I can’t abide, and instead has become, deservedly, a national treasure.

How has Yorkshire influenced your work?

If at all, probably in the style of humour I’ve applied to certain screenplays, which some people find quite dry. Certainly in Brassed Off, and to a lesser extent in Little Voice, some say the tone and type of humour is very “Yorkshire”, but I don’t think it’s actually as specific as that. Again, northern, maybe. Also, if stubbornness is a Yorkshire trait, which I suspect it is, that’s certainly been an influence. It’s impossible to make a feature film without being stubborn.

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Do you have a favourite film featuring Yorkshire (other than Brassed Off!)

Little Voice? The stage play was set in Lancashire but somehow, during my screen adaptation, the film ended up being set in Scarborough. In truth though, including both those of my own, my favourite Yorkshire-based film by some good distance would be Ken Loach’s Kes. My list of top ten films changes almost every day, but Kes is always in it.

Is there a location somewhere in the county you’ve always wanted to shoot a film?

I suppose, living there and hating as I do living out of a suitcase, central York would be handy. But not just for those selfish reasons. I think it would be a great cinematic backdrop for any kind of story. Whitby too.

What are you working on currently?

I think, unless I wrote some astronaut adventure, it would be harder to get further away from Yorkshire: I’m writing a comedy set in Tasmania.