With much-talked-about new film The Duke poised for release, its stars Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren have talked about bringing the true life story to life and described the whole process as a 'joy'.
The Oscar winners play husband and wife in the film based on the 1960s case of former Benwell bus driver Kempton Bunton who stole a Goya masterpiece from The National Gallery in London - and have adopted Geordie accents for their role.
And in a behind-the-scenes interview the pair discuss the making of the comedy-drama - which portrays Bunton as a local hero - ahead of its debut at cinemas nationwide on February 25, with some North East venues securing early preview screenings from this Wednesday.
Read more: The mystery behind Kempton Bunton's daring art heist
In the video interview, which also features producer Nicky Bentham and late director Roger Michell, Broadbent describes how Goya's painting of The Iron Duke - the only ever theft from the London gallery - was "nicked by a man from Newcastle ".
The actor, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for 2002 film Iris, said: "My character has good intentions - and he's also slightly foolish."
In a newly-released clip from the film, Bunton is heard drawing parallels with Robin Hood as he outlines his plan to make money to pay for TV licences for old people - the cost of which is said to have provoked him into committing his crime in the first place.
He had been enraged to hear that £140,000 had been spent on securing Goya's painting for the nation, at a the time that a £4 TV licence fee was being levied upon pensioners.
Determined to exact some payback, the working class hero - said in the film to be a former taxi driver rather than a bus driver - is also described as " a rascal" who it is impossible not to feel sorry for, given his hope of effecting a policy change to benefit the elderly and of securing a ransom for the painting of £140,000 to give to charity.
The real-life story was covered extensively in The Chronicle at the time while The Mirror is mentioned in the film version as "the worker's paper".
In the interview footage, both Broadbent and Mirren, who won her Best Actress Oscar for The Queen, call the making of the film "a joy" and audiences are being promised a treat when it finally hits the big screen - having had its initial release date delayed by the pandemic - and they find out how the upbeat tale pans out.
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