THIS month, the Bradford district will yet again be showcased as an appealing film-making location, when the BBC's latest flagship drama hits our screens.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, partly filmed in the district, is based on the bestselling novel by Susanna Clarke and set in an 'alternative' England in the early 19th century.

The seven-part BBC adaptation has an all-star cast, including Eddie Marsan, Bertie Carvel and Samuel West, and is directed by Peter Harness, who has worked on TV dramas Wallander and Is Anybody There?

Much of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was filmed in Yorkshire. Locations included Oakwell Hall in Birstall, York Minster, Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, and Temple Newsam Hall in Leeds.

It is the latest in a long line of TV dramas filmed in the region in recent years. The Great Train Robbery, Jamaica Inn, South Riding and The Syndicate have all been shot in Bradford, with TV gems such as Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley filmed down the road in Calderdale.

The film-making interest in Yorkshire is partly because of Screen Yorkshire's investment in quality drama and encouraging location scouts to think of the county first.

And of course the BBC, which commissioned and broadcast many of the programmes shot on location here, is now based in the North, in Salford, greater Manchester. Peter Salmon, Burnley-born head of BBC England, says there is no doubt that decision has helped to shift the centre of gravity of TV production in the UK.

A decade or so ago, there was a sense that many TV licence payers in the North felt alienated by a BBC they perceived as being very London-based, he admits. It didn't take a genius to work out that if the BBC wanted to be a truly British broadcasting corporation, it needed to shift some production away from the Capital.

In 2011, a significant number of BBC jobs were moved to Media City at Salford Quays, and in 2013 ITV also moved jobs there. Slightly fewer than half of the BBC's 16,600-odd staff are now based in London. The remainder are dispersed around the country, with 3,000 in Salford.

As the BBC's 'Director, England', Peter Salmon has seen the impact of the Salford move on TV production in the North, with flagship BBC dramas such as Happy Valley and Remember Me and a wealth of children's TV such as Wolfblood.

But Bradford City of Film director David Wilson and Sally Joynson of Screen Yorkshire say there is still some way to go, in terms of production in the North.

"What we need to do is try to ensure that conditions are right for some of that production to actually be based in Yorkshire," says Mr Wilson. "This message was hammered home at the recent Bradford International Film Summit where film and TV production leaders and specialists gathered to discuss the future of production in the UK, with a particular focus on the North and Yorkshire.

"There is still a long way to go and it's not just the BBC who have a responsibility to respond. ITV, Channel 4, Sky TV, the British Film Institute all have diversity targets which means they should be looking for the broadest range of services to support production.

"Bradford City of Film is working closely with Screen Yorkshire, the local authority and other key agencies to try and support the next phase in film and TV activity in the region. We're also looking at how we can further support more international collaborations from America and Bollywood in particular. My message to the sector is that we have proved our film-friendly credentials and now is the time for production and post production services to put down firm roots here."

Sally Joynson said: "Having a strong BBC powerhouse in the North has helped put the spotlight on the North. We're seeing different faces and voices on TV as a result."

But she added that the problem is that Salford's MediaCity has created a new centre of gravity across the Pennines.

"There's a drift to the North West," she says. The result? While more TV drama is being filmed in Yorkshire, not much of it is actually produced here. The days of mainstream network TV produced at the likes of ITV's Yorkshire Television Studios in Leeds are gone, she says.

Big production companies are based in Salford or London and tend to bring TV crews when they film here, rather than recruiting locally.

What is needed is more home-grown independent TV production companies. There are a few, such as Kay Mellor's Rollem, but Yorkshire needs more TV produced here.

"There are still far too many incoming productions," says Sally. "There are some really talented people in Yorkshire ready to make programmes. But where they struggle is getting noticed."

It will happen in time, says Peter Salmon, who insists Salford is a wheel with spokes reaching out across the region.