The fifth episode of a chat show presented by regional television personality Mike Neville chatting with two of the region’s most successful sports stars North Yorkshire born British Lion and England rugby international Rob Andrew and Olympic Three-Day Eventer Karen Dixon. Title: The Mike Neville Show To the applause of the studio audience presenter Mike Neville comes out on to the stage and introduces tonight’s programme describing his first guest as Newcastle Falcon’s Director of Rugby...

The fifth episode of a chat show presented by regional television personality Mike Neville chatting with two of the region’s most successful sports stars North Yorkshire born British Lion and England rugby international Rob Andrew and Olympic Three-Day Eventer Karen Dixon. Title: The Mike Neville Show To the applause of the studio audience presenter Mike Neville comes out on to the stage and introduces tonight’s programme describing his first guest as Newcastle Falcon’s Director of Rugby who has been tasked with making Newcastle one of Europe’s top rugby clubs. He has been capped seventy times for his country and is England’s record point scorer. A clip featuring him scoring a 47-yard drop kick against Australia during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in Cape Town. Coming out onto the stage Rob Andrew takes a seat next to Mike and the two talk about the importance of that game, joining Newcastle Rugby Club and what he has achieved in the past two-and-a-half years. The two men also talk about the difference between international and club level rugby with the sport recently going professional. He also talks about how the region has changed, how the investment of £30 million by Sky TV is changing the television landscape as well as about his cricketing career confirming he is the only England professional rugby player who has also scored 100 runs in first-class cricket. Brining the interview to a close Mike states that after the break he will be speaking with one of Britain’s top Three-Day Event riders, Olympic horsewoman Karen Dixon. Title: The Mike Neville Show Describing his next guest as a County Durham woman who has spent the last decade at the top of her sport becoming an MBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1996. A clip of her during her Olympic debut at Seoul in South Korea in 1988 riding under maiden name Karen Straker. Coming out onto the stage Karen Dixon comes to set beside Rob Andrews talking with Mike about the horse she rode on at that Olympics Get Smart and about a new horse Too Smart whom she sees as being a future superstar. She talks about what eventing is as a sport providing details on the three main components; dressage, cross-country and show jumping. She talks about the challenges of coming from the north being selected for the Olympic team, the difficulties of completing the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and how excited she is for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She talks about how her early interest in horses and her first pony Toby and about a serious accident that happened in 1989. After asking where the best horses come from Rob Andrew tells her she thinks she is incredibly brave riding such huge horses. Both Rob and Karen talk about the challenges of both finding and keeping sponsorship with Rob believing that sport is underfunded in this country and Karen explaining how being an equestrian is a hand-to-mouth sport. She talks a little about a scheme she is running to help young riders. Bringing the programme to an end Mike thanks his guests as well as the studio audience and provides details on next week’s show where he will be joined singer and films star Hazel O’Connor and comedian Paul Squire. Title: The Mike Neville Show Credit: Title Music Alan Clark Floor Manager Herbie Newton Vision Mixer Alan Todd Cameras Mike Parker Jimmy JIB Operator Ken Moulson Sound Mixer Dave Wealleans Lighting Director John Mason Production Co-ordinator Sarah Howie Production Manager Barbara Buglass Research Gaye Slater Designer Tim Trout Executive Producers Peter Mitchell, Malcolm Wright Producer Jo Mapplebeck Series Producer and Director Keith Cheetham Title: A Zenith North production for Tyne Tees Television. © Tyne Tees Television MCMXCVIII End title: A Tyne Tees Television programme for Channel 3 North East