Comedians Ian Smith and Amy Gledhill are “two Northerners who now tragically live in London for work” and keep connected to the North by discussing the local papers
Ian Smith and Amy Gledhill will return for a 7th series of podcast Northern News(Image: Submitted)
Two comedians from Hull and the East Riding are going back to their roots and scouring local newspapers for stories too strange, small or silly to trouble the national media. Amy Gledhill, born in Hull, and Goole ’s Ian Smith, created the podcast Northern News, where they delve into the weird and wonderful stories appearing in newspapers across the North.
The podcast has returned this week for a seventh series. The duo says that Hull and East Yorkshire have proved rich hunting grounds for wacky local news stories with Ian saying that the Hull Daily Mail has provided them with more material than any other newspaper.
Ian said: “The Hull Daily Mail has probably been our most used paper,” he said. “Amy’s always looking for stories from Hull so it’s a vital source.” The podcast began in 2023 after Amy and Ian found themselves to be two Northerners living in London who wanted to keep in touch with what was happening back home.
Any fears about whether the supply of stories unusual enough to discuss might eventually run dry were quickly taken away once recording started. “I think part of me thought we’d run out of bizarre news stories and that we’d have to delve deeper into the past, ending up in libraries looking through old archives like in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?” Ian said.
“But luckily, weird things keep happening in the North of England. There’s always a new neighbourhood dispute or someone who thinks they’ve seen a ghost for us to talk about.
“It’s two Northerners who now tragically live in London for work. We miss the North and we’ve decided the best way to keep connected is by trawling the newspapers and finding all the funny stuff going on.
“Ideally we’re looking for those stories that you’re surprised even qualify as news. As long as no one’s hurt, we’ll use it!”
Both comedians have enjoyed a hugely successful few years while being away from home. Amy won an Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Comedy Show in 2024 for Make Me Look Fit on the Poster .
She had already been nominated for Best Show twice as half of comedy duo The Delightful Sausage, in 2019 and 2022, while also receiving a Best Newcomer nomination for her first solo show in 2022. Her profile has continued to grow since then.
This year she appeared on Channel 4’s Taskmaster and joined names including David Mitchell, Diane Morgan, Romesh Ranganathan and Bob Mortimer for the second series of Prime Video’s Last One Laughing UK . She also has acting credits as Detective Ruby Todd in Netflix’s Harlan Coben thriller Run Away .
Ian was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show with his show Crushing in 2023 and repeated the achievement two years later with Foot Spa Half Empty . His credits include Live at the Apollo and Have I Got News For You, while Ian Smith Is Stressed, his BBC Radio 4 comedy series exploring the things that stress him out and his attempts to find ways to relax, returned for a second series this year.
Yet despite their careers taking them increasingly far beyond East Yorkshire, there appears to be no shortage of material waiting for them back home. For Ian, there is something about the North itself that makes such stories more likely to find their way into the news.
“I think if we did Southern News it would mostly be crimes and misery,” he said. “There’s something about the North that lends itself to quirkiness, whether it’s our brighter outlook on life or a general lack of goings on, something allows the North to focus on the smaller, sillier stories. Down in London, they’ve got no time to have fun with the news.”
Growing up in Goole has also left a lasting mark on Ian’s comedy. “I write about Goole a lot. I think growing up in a smaller town shapes you very differently to the big city people,” he said.
“I remember going to college in Scunthorpe and being blown away because it had a cinema and a Topman. I couldn’t believe it! Everything I needed. Films and the skinny jeans I used to buy that have probably led to severe blood-flow problems today.”
Series seven of Northern News will bring another collection of strange stories from across the region, along with special guests including Lara Ricote, Dan Schreiber and Friday Night Dinner star Tom Rosenthal. And with the new series running across October, the podcast’s traditional Halloween episode will also return. Northern News with Amy Gledhill and Ian Smith is available on major podcast platforms.
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