Last updated 11:21, Monday, 17 November 2008

THERE was a time when Reiver might have mocked people who were fascinated by the goings on at Eddie Stobart Ltd.

TV drama unfolds: Run titles on Kings of The Road

The Eddie Stobart Fan Club used to have a shop in Carlisle. Thousands of “Eddie spotters” noted the names of the company’s lorries.

Had these people nothing better to do?

But now Reiver is as interested as anyone, if only because the future of the company is of the utmost importance to Cumbria in these credit-crunched times.

The fascination is shared by people all over the world, judging by the reaction to a new Border TV series.

Kings of the Road is a behind-the-scenes look at a year in the lives of the company’s main men, Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart.

The eight-part series is narrated by Sean Bean and shown on Mondays at 10.35pm. It is going out only on Border but the station has been inundated with emails from Eddie spotters asking if it will be shown in their region.

Queries have come from all over the UK and there has even been one from Adelaide in Australia.

Kings of the Road has been a big rating success for the under-threat broadcaster, beating all other regional programmes around the country.

It is a fascinating story. Andrew Tinkler started his working life washing Stobart trucks at the age of 16 before eventually buying the business.

At a time when we are bombarded by celebrities who are famous for being famous, it is refreshing to know that viewers are interested in hard-working people who have actually achieved something.