FANS of Sean Bean are in for a treat when a Yorkshire-based thriller trilogy hits the screens next month.

The long-awaited Red Riding films, based on three of Ossett-born David Peace’s four cult noir novels about the turbulent times of the miners’ strikes and the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, are to be broadcast on Channel 4 from March 5.

They were filmed across the region, including around Huddersfield last year.

Along with Sean Bean, the films boast an impressive array of British acting talent including, Mark Addy (The Full Monty), Warren Clarke (Daziel and Pascoe), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) and …Kirkburton Tory councillor Christine Smith.

Clr Smith stars in the third part of the trilogy, 1983, which picks up the interlinking story of corruption and paranoia with another young girl going missing and a senior police officer starting to realise he may have jailed the wrong man.

She plays Mrs Piggot, the mother of John Piggot (Mark Addy), a solicitor who is persuaded to fight the miscarriage of justice but finds himself slowly uncovering a catalogue of cover ups.

Clr Smith said she was sure at least one of the two scenes she filmed last year would be in the movie as one was a key moment in the plot.

She said: “It’s a bit dark this movie, it’s very gruesome. I didn’t meet Sean Bean, my bit was with Warren Clarke and Mark Addy. This is one of the biggest things I’ve done, I’m very glad it’s finally coming on (TV).”

Clr Smith now plans to step up her acting career.

Having also been an extra in several TV dramas including the Touch of Frost, Heartbeat, and the Royal Today, she has built up enough credit to earn an actors’ equity card.

Having the card allows actors to apply for speaking roles and entitles them to be named when the credits roll at the end of a programme or film.

“I’ve been working for the past 20-years and doing politics but I want to get more into the acting now rather than just doing the walk on parts. If Granada TV are looking for a nosey neighbour in their 50s or 60s I can now audition for that part. The Touch of Frost I was in I could be seen in the background for about two minutes so it will be nice to get some credit.”

Peace’s best-known novel, The Damned United, about Brian Clough’s 44 days as manager of Leeds United will be released on March 27.