to rebuild the former. Owen Hatherley writes that in addition to being overly car-centred, "The problem with the idea of the Brasilia of the North is that Newcastle never found a northern Oscar Niemeyer." John Shipley, another council leader, said that "his plan to turn Newcastle into the Brasilia of the North was way over the top. Newcastle has a long and proud history and we have to build on that – not just ignore it and look for the next big thing." In the media Smith starred in a drama-documentary film, T. Dan Smith: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Utopia, about his life story and the regeneration of Newcastle. Produced by Amber Films, the production was based on Smith's autobiography. It had a cinema release in 1987, and was broadcast on Channel 4 the following year. In February 1988 Smith made an extended appearance on an episode of After Dark, a live British discussion television programme entitled Freemasonry: Beyond the Law?, along with David Napley and others. Smith's career was the inspiration for Austin Donohue, a character in Peter Flannery's play Our Friends in the North. The part was first played by Jim Broadbent in the Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1982, and then by Alun Armstrong in the 1996 BBC television drama version. In his final years, Smith was a pundit on North East matters. He took part in a Radio Newcastle phone-in just nine days before his death. In 2010 he was the subject of a biography by North East Liberal politician and writer Chris Foote Wood, T Dan Smith "Voice of the North" Downfall of a Visionary: The Life of the North-East's Most Charismatic Champion. T. Dan Smith was referenced by Michael Whitehall in an episode of the online series Tales with my Father, co-presented with his son, comedian Jack Whitehall. Whitehall had initially confused Smith with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. References Bibliography External links 1915 births 1993 deaths English conscientious objectors Councillors in Newcastle upon Tyne Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) councillors People from Wallsend Politicians from Tyne and Wear Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944) members British politicians convicted of corruption Leaders of local authorities of England Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales