Sitting in a box somewhere I've got an old VHS tape of a BBC programme from about 1988. It was part of a series called "A Peculiar Obsession" and the title of this episode was "Jim and Alex and Chris and Ken". It followed our four heroes as they fished that years Seaham Open and is a cracking bit of tv; the beaches were packed (IIRC about 1700 fished that year) and it was an affectionate look at the anglers and the angling (and wasn't afraid to tease a bit - Jim reeling in and confidently telling the camera "codling" only to see a big lump of kelp come up on to the beach

)
The winner that year was John Wilson of Hartlepool Pirates who would often be there or thereabouts in the opens; another cracking angler was John Lovett of the Seaham club who was regularly angler of the year in the mid - late 1980's but never really fished much further afield.