Flying Scotsman moves up a gear

Aug 9 2005 By ALEX MILLIGAN

IT WAS lights... camera... action in Galston on Monday when a film crew came to town to record scenes for ‘The Flying Scotsman’ — a film about the celebrated Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree.

Jonny Lee Miller, who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sick Boy in ‘Trainspotting’, will play Obree in the film, which is scheduled for release in 2006.

Set in the west of Scotland, and with velodrome scenes to be shot in Germany, the film tells the remarkable true story of the Ayrshire-born former world champion.

Graeme broke the world one-hour record on a bike of his own revolutionary design, which he partly constructed out of sections of a washing machine.

Although a funny and inspirational script, Graeme’s brave battle with mental health problems is also part of the story.

‘The Flying Scotsman’ is Skye-born director Douglas Mackinnon’s first theatrical movie.

The producer, Peter Broughan, who also produced the Oscar-nominated ‘Rob Roy’, has spent the last eight years developing the film.

Speaking in Galston on Monday, Peter said: “It is an absolute joy to see a film celebrating one of Scotland’s most deserving sporting heroes begin production.

“We have a wonderful cast and crew, and a director who is absolutely determined to give Graeme’s story the treatment it deserves.”

Obree will return to familiar territory in the Irvine Valley, where his father was a policeman.

Other locations used in the making of the film include Glasgow, Loch Lomond and the Port of Monteith in the Trossachs, as well as Germany.

A frequent visitor to the set, and an advisor to the film, Graeme is delighted that his story is going to make the big screen.

Graeme told The Kilmarnock Standard: “I can’t believe the scale and complexity of making a film.

“It’s astonishing to think that, without realising it, I started all this.”

After breaking the world record in 1993, Obree became the World Pursuit Champion.

But his subsequent battles with the cycling authorities, who seemed determined to thwart this maverick, provide the basis for this uplifting yet often hilarious true-life tale.

Behind the triumphs, however, lies a painful history of manic depression.

Graeme’s condition was the result of the vicious and systematic bullying he received as the local policeman’s son in a small Ayrshire town.

This abuse drove Obree to the depths of despair throughout his adult life, and his career, and even took him to the brink of suicide on several occasions.

‘The Flying Scotsman’ depicts the extreme lows of Graeme’s internal battles, which contrast dramatically with the intense euphoria of his victories.

The six-week shoot began in Glasgow on July 24, and the film and production crew moved to Galston on Monday.

The film crew are using an area of land to the rear of Loudoun Academy as their base during their stay in the Irvine Valley.

Traffic in several Galston streets has been affected this week to allow the filming to take place.