YORK has produced some unusual stars of stage and screen, some who have gone on to bigger and much better things.

Take Frankie Howerd, the classic comedian of Up Pompeii fame, or maybe Dame Judi Dench, who hasn't exactly done bad for herself. Or indeed Burnhome's Mark Addy, who has become a huge sensation in the US, oh and that Russell Crowe fella married a girl from Poppleton.

But York's latest television star can boast to be somewhat different from the crowd, and could take them places as well, with train operator GNER's Mallard trains set to feature in a brand new pre-school children's drama series produced by the makers of the successful Balamory series, called Me Too!

The new series, which will be broadcast on BBC 2 and CBeebies from Monday, is set in the fictional city of Riverseafingal and follows the daily lives of nine principal characters at work, including Raymond an on-train buffet manager.

Public transport is central to the series and producers Tattiemoon have taken inspiration from GNER and its Mallard trains in creating the make-believe Riverseafingal train company.

GNER has provided seats, tables and a trolley for the studio set of Raymond's on-train buffet coach, which is modelled on GNER's on-board caf-bar.

Many of the episodes feature aerial footage of GNER trains speeding along the East Coast Main Line route and the producers have also filmed scenes on-board GNER Mallard trains.

A real-life GNER train driver, Ross Clark, from Edinburgh, also appears in the Me Too! opening credits, driving a computer generated image of a Riverseafingal train.

Helen Doherty, producer, said: "The Riverseafingal trains are hugely important to the programme and we wanted them to be similar in style and colour to those of GNER, as they are extremely recognisable and child-friendly.

"Riverseafingal includes many familiar landmarks that are based along the East Coast route, therefore it was fitting to take inspiration from GNER for the city's train company."

The new series revolves around the lives of the nine adult characters in their workplace with the contrasting daily adventures of their pre-school child at play with registered childminder, Granny Murray.

In addition to Raymond, the main characters include a teacher, doctor, market stallholder, cleaner on the buses, nurse and a taxi driver.

The first series contains 75 20-minute episodes which will be shown on BBC 2 and CBeebies.

So who next for the fame game - calling Peter Edwards from First Bus company, is the ftr ready for a close-up?