See imo I think the North East need to develop some intercity/town services which are that, and run them extremely limited stop between the towns (providing there is no rail service).

The X12 is a prime example of that which imo should be Middlesbrough - Stockton - North Tees Hospital - Sedgefield - Coxhoe (Centre Only) - Bowburn (Centre Only) - East Durham College - Durham University - Durham Bus Station Only

Then you'd have a second service running along the corridor which serves every nook and cranny doing stuff like Integra 61, Coxhoe, High Shincliffe, Cornforth, Fishburn, Thorpe Thewles, Trimdon, Teesside Park etc which intentionally takes ages.
ie:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Durham/5...70!1m0!3e0

We have an issue right now where for people travelling between the major towns it takes too long and is unattractive but for those wanting to use it in the local villages the bus is skipping it to try and make it not unbearably long. It's the worst solution for all. Not to mention those wanting long journeys probably are attracted to things like tables etc, which are a waste of space on a town service. 

The 6 from Bishop Auckland to Durham and the 7 from Darlington to Durham are others down that neck of the woods similar. The bus services in Newton Aycliffe, Spennymoor and Ferryhill are awful unless you happen to live on the one corridor where there's loads of buses, nevermind country hamlets with 25 people.