THE SUNDAY MIRROR - 24th Oct 2004

Shamed Deayton gets movie break.

Disgraced TV star Angus Deayton is to make a film comeback.

The former 'Have I got news for you' host and 'One foot in the grave' actor will star in TV movie Heartless with Bad Girls prison boss Simone Lahbib.

Deayton, 48, who earned £50,000 per episode for presenting the news quiz will play a ruthless lawyer whose life dramatically changes after he has a heart transplant.

He hit the headlines himself last year after a string of allegations about his private life including cocaine abuse and sex romps with a prostitute.

To ensure privacy away from the bright lights and press, filming will begin this week in a remote village in Scotland. Ecosse films - who make BBC1's Monarch of the Glen and also produced the film Mrs Brown, have hired the Menzies Village Hall in Flintry, Stirlingshire, a village with a population of 486, one shop, no public transport and whose nearest bus stop is seven miles away.

But a local resident commented: "You can't keep much secret in a place like this and I've been told the film company have insured the hall for £5 million."

Yesterday a spokesman for the hall's management said: "The rental income will be most welcome towards our running costs."