Doctor Who legend joins Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman in first-look trailer for potential awards season favourite drama

The first trailer has been released for upcoming drama film Elsinore – which sees Andrew Scott play Scottish actor and Chariots of Fire star Ian Charleson.

The film – which looks set to be a highly emotional affair – focuses on the final months of Charleson's life, during which he played Hamlet at the National Theatre while he was seriously ill from AIDS.

In the trailer we see him informed that he will be playing the lead role in the play while he is coming to terms with the severity of his illness.

"I have to play Hamlet," he says at one point, while we also hear him declare that "I won't be a victim".

At the end of the trailer, he explains: "When it comes to life, it's quality that I want. It's glory, it's joy."

You can watch the trailer in full below.

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The film also stars Olivia Colman as Charleson's doctor Margaret Johnson, while there are also key roles for a number of other well known stars including Doctor Who legend Billie Piper and Heartstopper's Joe Locke.

Meanwhile, other notable actors who appear in the film include Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, Monica Dolan, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Mullan and Matthew Beard.

Elsinore recently premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and will have it's first UK showing as the opening film of the London Film Festival on Wednesday 7 October ahead of a full release next January.

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It has so far been met with positive reviews – sitting on a score of 89 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and 75 on Metacritic – with Scott's leading performance having been singled out for particular praise.

In fact, Scott has been named as one of the key contenders for the best actor Academy Award at next year's Oscars, where he is expected to be up against the likes of John Malkovich for Wild Horse Nine and Matt Damon for The Odyssey.

Elsinore will open the London Film Festival on 7 October and will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 29 October 2027.

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Authors

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.