Written by Chris Chibnall (Doctor Who, Broadchurch), A Copper’s Tale will be directed by James Strong (United) and tells the story of Tommy Butler and the crack team of detectives he assembled in his relentless quest to bring the robbers to justice.

The cast will also include Tom Chambers (Waterloo Road), Tim Pigott-Smith (The Hour), Tom Beard (Hunted), James Wilby (Titanic) and James Fox (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory).

Jim Broadbent commented: “I’m thrilled to be part of the Great Train Robbery film. I have such strong memories of the massive impact of the actual robbery and it is wonderful to find out from the script so much of the real story. Tommy Butler is a fascinating copper of the old school and I anticipate great fun playing him.”

Chris Chibnall added: “I’ve enviously watched Jim’s work on other writers’ scripts for years and I have to keep pinching myself that he’ll be bringing Tommy Butler to life in A Copper’s Tale. It’s a dream piece of casting, leading an ensemble of thoroughbred great British actors.”

The film will follow A Robber’s Tale, directed by Julian Jarrold (The Girl), which tells the story of the gang whose audacious crime secured unheard of wealth and the wrath of the establishment.

Chibnall exclusively told CultBox last month: “There are a lot of perspectives on both sides of the robbery that will surprise people. At its heart it’s a big morality tale, and to locate that in 1963… it’s a really interesting story and there’s some fantastically conflicting points of view and perspectives on it.”

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