George Best's life made into TV film for BBC2
27/11/2008 - 10:51
Waterloo Road's Tom Payne is to play George Best in a new drama on BBC2.
The TV film will look at the troubled Manchester United and Northern Ireland football star and his mother's battles with alcohol during the 60s and 70s.
Tom, who played teenager Brett Aspinall in the BBC1 show, has begun shooting for the drama in Belfast.
Michelle Fairley, who appeared in the 2007 drama The Street, will play Best's mother Anne and Cracker's Lorcan Cranitch will play his dad, Dickie.
A source told the Daily Mirror: "It is going to be very powerful and emotional but may be difficult to watch for some fans."
Award-winning writer Terry Caffola has created a semi-fictional account based on Anne's descent into alcoholism alongside her son's meteoric rise to fame and subsequent fall.
Tom, 25, who was also in Skins, said: "I'm excited and honoured to get the role."
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