Darlington is a market town in the historic county Durham that sits on the River Skerne, a tributary of the large River Tees. Although little evidence still exists, the town was founded as an Anglo-Saxon settlement and was originally known as Dearthington, meaning 'the settlement of the Deornoth's people'. By the Norman period the name had changed to Derlinton, and later in the 17th century Darton, or less kindly 'Darton I'the Dirt' - a cruel moniker for the town because of its notoriously muddy and unpaved streets, as witnessed by King James of Scotland during a visit in 1603. He would even go on to write an uncomplimentary verse about the town.

For many years the town's biggest industry was leather, with numerous tanneries built along the river. By the 17th century the town had diversified into a centre of the woollen and linen industry thanks in main to the Pease family who were also Quakers. By the early 1800s a large and influential Quaker community had developed in the town, and it was the vision of another member of the Pease family, Edward Pease, that would herald in a new era of public transportation by employing Tyneside engineer George Stephenson to build a railway to transport coal as well as passengers from Darlington to Stockton eventually opening in 1825.

The town's fortunes would be irrevocably changed because of this railway, and by the end of the 19th century, Darlington was a centre for rail manufacturing. By the second half of the 20th century, rail manufacturing was in decline, and by the time this film was produced in 1988 they had all closed down. However, Darlington been able to diversify, and through the work of companies such as Cleveland Bridge & Engineering, become a world-class bridge builder.

"Forty-eight hours is just a moment in time in the social history of a nation. However, over 26 and 27 August 1988, the people of the North East England have produced a significant record of their lives, their time and their country." These are the words of HRH Prince Charles in his introduction to the book '48hrs: Two Days in the Life of the North East', published by BBC Books and containing hundreds of original and unique photographs taken by people across the region that, according to David Cox, producer of 48hrs, "Create a true reflection of how people feel about their area and their lives' at a specific moment in time."

'48hrs: Two Days in the Life of the North East' began as a collaborative project between the BBC in Newcastle, local production company Filmnova and the Tyne & Wear Development Corporation. The BBC were able to promote the project and along with Filmnova provided curatorial assistance in witling down the thousands of submissions to those that would eventually make up the book. The Tyne and Wear Development Corporation provided financial support with the books publishing.

While the book went onto become a success, what is less know is that twenty film submissions in the form of video tapes were also submitted by for consideration. Sadly, none of these films made it into the final publication and for the next thirty they sat on the shelves of Filmnova until being donated to the Yorkshire & North East Film Archives in the early 2010s. Now, thanks to the support of BFI Heritage 2022 these tapes have been digitised and made available here for you to view and look back on the people of the North-East of England over a summer Bank Holiday more than thirty years ago.