Spot the local landmarks - if you can!

Dublin.

Yes, THAT Dublin. The Dublin where King John commissioned the castle in 1204, the Dublin which was the scene of the Easter Rising in 1916, the Dublin where walking tours start at the International Bar on Wicklow Street.

Dublin. The well-known city in the heart of the North East and, yes, I am being sarcastic.

There's nothing to spoil the enjoyment of a series set in the region more the realisation that it is filmed elsewhere.

Spotting the local landmarks becomes a source of enjoyment just as much as the action on-screen but in this series we are badly let down.

In last week's episode a murder suspect was said to be heading towards Cullercoats, near Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.

Fair enough but I don't remember an abandoned holiday camp when I was growing up in the village.

There's no cottage with a door like the one pictured in a scene of police cars racing through the streets.

And the beach definitely didn't look like THAT.

What really grates is that writer Peter Flannery makes a point of saying it is the region which inspires him.

Here's what he has to say: "The joy of writing the Gently stories lies in the period and the place. The place because it's where I grew up; the period for the same reason.

I believe there are financial reasons why the makers of Inspector George Gently couldn't be bothered to film in the region - the Irish government provides incentives to film there.

Any other perks?

Let's ask Lee Ingleby, who plays sergeant Bacchus, if there are any advantages to working in Dublin?

He says: "We filmed Inspector George Gently on location in and around Dublin, which I've loved. At weekends I tended to stick around Dublin, it's a good Saturday night out and there were so many pubs - I was trying to get through them all!"

He could have had a bottle of Broon in the Bigg Market if the series had been filmed here, of course.

One further thing I want to say.

According to internet gossip the makers can't even sort out their Northumberlands from their Durhams.

One commentator says: "One pedantic point, however; whilst it is made clear that the action takes place in Northumberland, when shots are shown of the Police headquarters it is clearly badged as 'Durham Police'. Northumberland and Durham were (and indeed still are) seperate counties, and in the sixties I doubt if the Northumberland cops would take kindly to Durham officers trespassing on their territory."

It could have been worse, It could have been the bage of the Garda.