The Press Launch for "Bert and Dickie" took place this morning and the first article has come from the BBC:
Filming a BBC drama about the 1948 Olympics has left Matt Smith desperate for London 2012 rowing tickets.
The Dr Who actor plays Bert Bushnell, with Sam Hoare taking the part of Richard Burnell in the drama Bert and Dickie, which tells the true tale of the pair winning double sculls gold at the so-called "austerity Games".
Smith said a crash course with elite rowers for the film had left him with a taste for the sport.
"Me and Sam would love to go to the rowing but the guys we were training with who were in the Olympics said they only get one ticket each for their families."
"If anyone's listening, if there's any opportunity" he joked while talking to the media about the drama.
The pair filmed Bert and Dickie on the Thames near Henley - the site of the 1948 rowing contest - last year.
Bushnell and Burnell were both accomplished oarsmen but had never sculled together and had only five weeks to train for the Games.
The 1948 Olympics was the first since the war, the Treasury was bare and Britain still had rationing, leading to politicians and the press wondering if it should be cancelled.
By the time the Games began, the event was seen as a huge morale boost.
Asked if he thought the London 2012 Games might have a similar effect, Smith said: "I think the Olympics for Britain is brilliant."
"The build up to it and seeing the city transform and uniting people, I think is wonderful."
"Some people say it's going to be really busy - so what?"
Making the film has not been Smith's only brush with the Olympic Games.
He carried the torch through Cardiff in the first week of the relay which he said was "a wonderful experience".
"I've bought it - I'm going to get it mounted on my wall," he said.
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