A STAR from hit TV show The Office will be appearing in a cinematic tribute to the retro gaming scene in Bolton.

Ewen Macintosh will be starring in The Button Bashers – a 100-minute feature docudrama about the UK gaming scene which exploded in the 1980s.

Film maker Lee Bolton, who lives in Farnworth, is making the film at his Elerby Studio in Breightmet.

He said: “I wanted to make a cinematic tribute to those games, the programmers, the publishers and the gamers.

“This film goes behind the scenes showing how 18-year-olds creating the computer games were driving around in Porsches and why the bubble burst. When you produce a film you have to have a massive passion behind it to make it work.

“With the retro game scene it has already that passion of the memories and we are trying to replicate this era on screen like no one else.

“Imagine the computers of the 1980s such as The Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum, Atari’s, Amstrad and even a ZX81 not forgetting the arcades play along to a scripted scenes with lots of nods to the games.”

Mr Bolton, aged 44, is a self-confessed fan of the retro game scene, owning an arcade machine and a collection of the games and consoles from the era. He has cast The Office and Little Britain actor to play the part of the programmer.

Mr Bolton added: “The film is split into segments akin to Twilight Zone: The Movie.

“You’ll get a massive chunk of eras such as the school ground battles against whose machine was best or how a major gaming company collapsed under the Whizz Kids get rich coverage,” he added.

The film will feature interviews with talented producers who made games such as Monty Mole, Dizzy and Manic Miner and also cover such companies as Ocean, Imagine and Gremlin Graphics.

Mr Bolton said: “The Button Bashers’ best match in film would be 24 Hour Party People, a creative look back at the games, people and companies – where the madness set in!”

Ideas include creating the popular games using actors. Track and field has already been created in Great Lever and Mr Bolton would love to recreate Pac Man in Prestons of Bolton building.

Ewen said: “It’s going to be really exciting working on The Button Bashers. I grew up in the 1980s so am I am really excited to be exploring that fun era.”