Angels Of The North
Brand new ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three series Angels Of The North (8x15’) will give viewers an access-all-areas pass to Longlox, a real life ‘pre-party’ hair extensions super salon in Tyneside, documenting the highs and lows of its stylists.
Published: 8 December 2019
I want to get across that there are multiple routes to success if you show each other respect, work hard and play to your strengths. I also like the fact it’s funny.
Made by Twenty Six 03 Entertainment, Angels Of The North will premiere on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer as an eight-part boxset from 10am on Sunday 8 December. It will also air on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ One in double episodes from Tuesday 10 December at 11.45pm.
The salon is owned by Sammyjo Pearson, 31, and managed by ‘Mamager’ Bev, alongside their Longlox Girls, a team of young, funny, talented and ambitious hair experts, all under the age of 23. Many people become hairdressers, but these stylists are learning that it takes a lot more to be a Longlox girl.
Angels Of The North gives a candid insight into all the action from the salon, as well as following the stylists after hours from bonding nights out to milestone purchases made from hard-earned wages. The Longlox family work hard, play hard and then work hard some more.
The beating heart of the series is Sammyjo, who juggles her creative vision of making her salon the most Instagrammable in the north east with managing her team’s fractious and hilarious relationships - not to mention her own turbulent love life. There’s never a dull day in the salon.
Angels Of The North was commissioned by Kate Phillips, Controller Entertainment Commissioning and Fiona Campbell, Controller ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three. The Executive Producers for Twenty Six 03 Entertainment are Antonia Hurford-Jones and Duncan Gray, and series producer is Steve Earley. The Commissioning Editor for the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ is Rachel Ashdown.
IR
Meet the Team
Q&A with:
Sammyjo Pearson - owner (pictured above)
Bev Pearson, salon 'Mamager'
Duncan Gray, Executive Producer, Twenty Three 06
Maeve McLoughlin, Youth Executive, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three
Sammyjo and Bev, introduce yourselves and Longlox…
Sammyjo: "I’m the owner of the Longlox salon in Gateshead. I’ve been doing hair extensions for 17 years and I’ve put my heart and soul into the salon - I want to make it the most Instagrammable salon. Some of the girls have been working for me for a couple of years, some have only just started. The girls know what they want - they are professional, friendly and amazing, and they’ve all done us proud. They’re like my little sisters - although little sisters do get on your nerves sometimes!
"Working on this series has been an amazing experience for us all. We’ve all learned so much about each other - especially me and my mam."
Bev: "I’m the ‘Mamager’ of Longlox Supersalon! Working in the salon with Sammyjo doesn’t feel like work. It’s not work. You get out of bed in the morning and you go to the work place, but it’s not work - it’s like going to another family home."
Why did you want to make this show?
Duncan: "Firstly, everybody loves Geordies! The people are funny and honest - there’s no pretension. They are warm people. In television you want to make shows about likeable people and Geordies are really, really likeable. Secondly, we found an unbelievable cast. There’s a mother-and-daughter relationship, a brilliant salon to film in and the team who work in it are incredible.
"All of their stories are different but they all have integrity and a passion for life and what they do. They work so hard.
What is so interesting, having got to know the girls quite well, when they went to school, school didn’t like them and quite a lot of them didn’t like school. There’s one way life could go after that, but there’s also another way, which is what these girls did.
"They went to Newcastle City College, they got their qualifications and they discovered that they were really good at hair and using their hands. With Sammyjo and Bev’s help they have gone on to develop incredible careers and achieve really impressive life milestones. They’ve been given a chance and I find it really inspiring."
This genre is fairly new for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three, is this something you’re looking to make more of?
Maeve: "One hundred percent. This show is an example of the kind of shows we’re trying to do even more on the channel. For a long time ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three has had a reputation of having just hard and heavy documentaries, but our channel controller Fiona Campbell is really pushing hard to bring more lighthearted entertainment to the channel. This show has such universality.
"I want to go to the salon and be a Longlox girl! They are real people that you can identify with. You can hear an authentic voice and they are a real family unit. We want to do more of this on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three."
The episodes are quite short, it’s really easy to watch - is that normal for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three?
Maeve: "We often use short-form content on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Three to test out new talent or new concepts, but we’ve also realised that young people like snackable content like this. We want them to kick back and relax while watching. These episodes flow one after the other and you don’t even realise you’re getting lost in it. I sat down and watched it for two hours last week and loved it. It works for how our audience are consuming content."
What was the strangest thing about having the cameras in the salon?
Bev: "I forgot they were there!"
Sammyjo: "The first time I put on a mic on it was weird, but I got used to it so quickly. There’s one bit where we had an argument and I got quite upset. I tell you what I’m pleased about - they didn’t show the full time that I was crying! I was crying in that room for a LONG time. But thankfully they only showed a bit of it, I’ve got an ugly crying face!"
What do you want young people watching Angels Of The North to take away from the show?
Duncan: "I want to get across that there are multiple routes to success if you show each other respect, work hard and play to your strengths. If you keep trying you can pick your way through what can be not a nice world and come out stronger and successful. There’s a sense of community and teamwork in this salon - everyone looks after each other. Sammyjo and Bev are mentors to these girls.
"I also like the fact it’s funny. Life’s miserable at times but this show is uplifting and funny."
Sammyjo: "We’ve worked really hard to make this salon a success so I’d like people to realise it’s worth going for it, if you’ve got a dream. I want them to be inspired. I was only 15 when I first started. Just go for it - work really hard!"
Bev: "I think people might wonder what goes on behind closed doors at Longlox… and trust me, you do get to see what goes on. Nothing’s fake, nothing’s put on, what you see is what you get. It’s real.
Sammyjo is very open about her mental health [she had previously had a breakdown related to the amount of work and responsibility she had taken on, and needed to take some time out.] Was this something you thought was important to talk about?
Sammyjo: "Yes, I didn’t want to keep it from anyone. I wanted to talk about it and get it out there in the open. I want to break the stigma around mental health. I posted about it on Instagram a while ago and so many people messaged me off the back of it. They’ve been asking how I coped with it and what I did to get better. It’s nice to know I can help somebody else.
Bev: "I just wanted to help. She was sitting at home, she wasn’t herself - she couldn’t come in to work or leave the house. But when she came back in with that twinkle in her eye again, I was so proud. I knew I had her back."
Duncan: "When we first met Bev and Sammyjo we knew about that story, but we assumed we might not talk about it. It’s private and we didn’t want to intrude. But it was Sammyjo who came to us and said she wanted to talk about it. I thought it was so brave but absolutely the right thing to do."
The girls look up to you Bev - you were the first person Kendal told that she was having a baby.
Bev: "When they come into my room I say, oh no what’s next… when Kendal said she was pregnant I told her she needed to call her mam. They’re like my family."
