It's Nice Up North

EMMA LEE

Norwich Arts Centre

Is it true that the further north you travel in the UK, the more pleasant folk get?

That's the question Sheffield's versatile singer- songwriter John Shuttle-worth sets out to answer in this spoof documentary.

Shuttleworth, the creation of comedian Graham Fellows, is trailed by a cam-eraman as he journeys to the Shetland Isles in his beloved Y-reg Austin Ambassador.

The film was introduced by Fellows, who explained that he fell in love with the Shetlands when he played a show there and discovered it to be a McDonald's-free zone.

The film itself is sunny and charming - highlights included John and his cameraman Martin Parr bonding over a mutual love of Werthers Original sweets only to fall out minutes later when the Ambassador's windscreen wiper breaks and Parr suggests he trades it in for a Japanese car.

And what was John's conclusion? Is it nice up north? Yes - and they have a really amazing bus stop there too.