A BOLTON filmmaker is directing a new feature documentary on the legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.

Mike Todd's latest project, Shankly: Nature’s fire, will explore the football icon's singular vision to make Liverpool the greatest football club in the world and the legacy the Scot left in his adopted home city.

The BBC Scotland film will feature interviews with former players such as Ian St John, Denis Law, Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan, Steven Gerrard and commentators including legendary sports writer Hugh Mcillvanney and author Irvine Welsh, as well as family members and fans.

Mr Todd said: "Bill Shankly is one of the most iconic sporting figures of the 20th century. Much has been said and written about him but this film will hopefully bring a new and expansive look at how and why his legacy has remained so strong.

"Unlike many sports biopics, the fans will form a central part of this piece. Their voice will appear alongside the recognisable football names.

"We wanted to explore the unique relationship fans have with their clubs and how it relates to the roots of the game."

His previous feature documentaries include Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears and Hustlers Convention.

The film, which is two years in the making, is scheduled for completion in the autumn.

BBC Scotland commissioning head, Ewan Angus, said: “Shankly is clearly a unique figure who transcends football and sport. His story reflects the changing nature of society in the 20th Century and I’m sure it will prove really popular with our audiences.”

Peter Hooton, lead singer of Liverpool group The Farm and a major Liverpool fan has worked as a producer on the film.

He said: “Shankly epitomised a different set of values that I think are still admired to this day. He was a charismatic leader but believed in a collective effort with everyone pulling in the same direction.

“I agreed to be involved in the making of this documentary because Shankly was my boyhood hero — I idolised the man, so I was determined to do his story justice. He built Liverpool Football Club up from the doldrums of the Second Division to be in his own words 'a bastion of invincibility.' He was quite simply our Messiah and his name resonates through the ages.”