HE’S an Oscar-winning Hollywood star but Colin Firth admits he felt totally out of his depth in his latest harrowing TV role.
Colin plays Doctor Jim Swire in five-part drama Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, which will air on Sky on January 2.
It tells how Jim and his wife Jane spent decades pursuing justice after their daughter Flora was killed in the Lockerbie bombing.
She was one of 270 people who lost their lives when a device exploded on Pan AM Flight 103 over the town in December 1988.
Colin said: “You can’t meet [Jim] without feeling a warmth and respect.
“And then realising what a huge thing to live up to this was going to be because you always feel a bit out of your depth when you start a job, but this really felt way out of my depth.
“When I was sent this script, it had an emotional impact.
“It was less the legal investigation-thriller element of it, and far more how it made me feel – how it made me feel seeing this representation of Jim and Jane and their family.
“He let evidence and facts speak to him, even if that meant profoundly changing course.
"That really, really struck me.”
STRICTLY judge Shirley Ballas will have children dancing off to bed when she reads the CBeebies Bedtime Story.
She will recite Big Dance, by Aoife Green-ham, tonight at 6:50pm.
Shirley said: “I practised by reading over a video call to my one-year-old grandson, Banksi.”
THE cast of Grantchester are still lamenting the departure of Tom Brittney.
The lead actor, who played crime-solving vicar Will Davenport, left last summer.
Co-star Robson Green said: “There was no acting required when that day came to say goodbye to Tom.
“It was, like, we hadn’t even started the scene, we were in bits.”
Tom, who was in the series for six years, said: “It was the hardest decision of my life but all good things must come to an end.”
Rishi Nair replaces Tom in the ninth series, which ITV will screen in the New Year.
He joked of his first day on set: “My scene was to punch Robson Green in the face.
“And I was like, ‘Brilliant, what a way to start’.”
JAMIE OLIVER will be on the box for five more years thanks to a new deal.
He’s extended his agreement with Fremantle, who look after the global rights of all his shows and the chef will be looking to “expand his digital footprint” following the launch of his YouTube video library.
ALAN CARR and Amanda Holden recruited a pair of mini-mes to help them host The Royal Variety Performance.
Alan drafted in Oliver Savell, who plays a younger version of him in his semi-autobiographical comedy series Changing Ends.
My backstage snap shows how the lad, now 14, has shot up since the ITV sitcom.
Oliver and mini-Amanda Isla Ashworth, nine, do a skit on the show, which airs on Sunday at 8pm on ITV.
Amanda teased: “There are a few acts that you might see Alan and I appearing in.”
Alan added: “I’ve got an understudy just in case I die during the opening act."
