Comedian Graham Fellows and photographer Martin Parr, both brilliant observers of Middle England, have made a film about Northern niceness. It's a bit of a shambles, frankly - and utterly inspired. They talk to Marc Lee.

On the face of it, it's an unlikely alliance. Never before in the landscape of British culture have the paths of photography and stand-up comedy crossed - least of all in the Shetland Islands.

And yet, when you think about it, the groundbreaking collaboration of internationally renowned photographer Martin Parr and gifted "character" comedian Graham Fellows on a film called It's Nice Up North isn't quite as surprising as it first seems.

Directed by and starring Fellows - in the guise of his sublimely hilarious creation John Shuttleworth - and shot by Parr, It's Nice Up North is a quasi-documentary inspired by a premise as shaky as the camerawork - that the further north you go in Britain, the nicer people are.

Shuttleworth is a bumbling, cheerily optimistic denizen of deepest suburbia with a penchant for writing endearingly naff songs (Pigeons in Flight, for example, and a paean to his beloved Y-reg Austin Ambassador). He also has a relentless fascination for the minutest details of everyday life.

And, coming ostensibly from John's over-literal mind, the idea for the film takes this intrepid if vaguely baffled odd couple on an adventure to the most northerly of the British Isles, where they test the theory by pottering about between cafés and gift shops, the post office and an old folks' home, engaging the locals in joyously inconsequential chit-chat. It's very funny.

Not that it'll win any Oscars for technical achievement. Although the video camera is in the hands of one of the world's best-known photographers, it often slips out of them. We get, for instance, long, unintended close-ups of the upholstery covering the back seat of John's car. Which makes it even funnier.
The reason the project makes so much sense is that, for all their artistic dissimilarities, Parr and Fellows are both brilliant observers of middle England in all its quirky, eccentric glory.

Seagulls scoffing chips on the promenade, dozing matrons squeezed into groaning garden chairs, the greasy delights of a hot dog stand - Parr's wryly affectionate images capture a world, a way of life which millions of people in this country would recognise instantly, but which is rarely celebrated. And John Shuttleworth's idea of heaven would be a quiet afternoon ambling around his local garden centre.

Which is, appropriately, where Parr and Fellows first met during a shoot for a magazine feature. Or was it? Despite Parr's certainty, Fellows insists it was somewhere else completely.

Apparently, there was also a certain amount of disagreement - or "creative tension" - while they were making It's Nice Up North, largely because they didn't allow long enough for the shoot. "I did have a bit of a script, but we made it up as we went along," says Fellows. "We occasionally almost fell out because I'd say, 'John has to do this now', and Martin would say, 'Why?' And I'd say, 'Haven't you read the script, Martin?'"

Parr agrees that he is not keen on scripts. "For me, the most enjoyable bits were when we'd go in and ad-lib it. The highlights of the film were when we didn't know what was going to happen.

"That's where Graham's role-play and his brilliance at doing his character really come out. It's so deadpan that I never really knew whether people realised he was in character or not. That's the funny thing - you can't tell."
Because they were in the Shetlands in December, the days were short and the weather was always a threat, which made the whole experience very stressful.
"There was a lot of friction," says Parr, "but I think friction is good."

How did it arise?

"Well, I lost the tape. Which was rather unsatisfactory."
"He lost the tape," adds Fellows briskly, "and blamed everyone else for having lost it. Then it turned up in his coat the following morning. And I burst into tears because I was so knackered. I got a bit emotional there."
There was also some confusion about who was who. "I got very cross with Martin on about day two," says Fellows. "I was probably very unfair, but there was a problem. There was an incredible sunrise, and I said to Martin, 'Go and get the sunrise.' I thought I was being Graham, but he started filming me and said, 'What's the matter, John? You got a problem with the car?' And I said, 'Just go and get the f***ing sunrise.'"

Further tension arises in our conversation when I ask Parr and Fellows whether they were exploiting the people they filmed, inviting us to find them funny.
Fellows is concerned that somebody might think this, but Parr interjects sharply: "By modern-day standards, this is so mild. Look at tabloid TV, reality TV. If you're looking for exploitation, I'd suggest you look there first. This is very mild, very respectful, very affectionate. But real life, real people can be very amusing, very funny. Why not celebrate that?"

Aside from the film, the pair are busy with other, solo projects, and Parr's latest exhibition could hardly be further from the windswept wilds of the Shetlands. Fashion Show opens at the Rocket Gallery in east London on Friday, and he describes the exhibition catalogue as one of the most challenging undertakings of his career - a 220-page glossy magazine, featuring pictures from several fashion shoots he's done over the past few years. The twist is that he took every picture, including the advertising. The magazine also has a recipe page (beans on toast), travel pieces, and even a Dear Martin advice column.

Meanwhile, Fellows has just embarked on a UK tour as Shuttleworth delivering the observations of a middle-aged everyman made dizzy by the modern world. It's a character as sharply defined as Al Murray's Pub Landlord and Ricky Gervais's David Brent. Yet Fellows admits to moments of doubt, when he wonders whether he should get an "ordinary" job - "like taking photographs".

He then tells Parr he's just bought a camera and has started taking "arty" shots. "I'm sure I've been influenced by you. I know I have because I know your secret. Am I allowed to say?"

"Yeah, go on, say it," replies Parr. "Give the Telegraph a scoop."

"You just point the camera and shoot."

But then that's exactly what one master of deceptive simplicity would say to another.

'Martin Parr: Fashion Show' is at the Rocket Gallery, London E1 (020 7729 7594) from Friday to July 3. John Shuttleworth tour information: www.shuttleworths.co.uk. 'It's Nice Up North' is due for release later this year.

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