EAST Lancashire actor John Simm is stepping into the newsroom of a Lancashire daily newspaper.

It is not the Lancashire Telegraph, though, but the Lancashire Evening News, a fictional paper in his new BBC1 drama.

Simm’s character, a London journalist who returns to his hometown after 18 years, uses the newspaper office to conduct research for his investigations.

An empty shop in Bolton was this week turned into the newspaper’s office for filming of the series.

The series has mainly been shot in Oldham, and filming is due to continue until the end of January.

Exile is a three-part series created by Burnley’s Bafta award winning writer Paul Abbott.

At the centre of the programme is the relationship between Simm’s character and his father, played by Jim Broadbent, who is in the grip of dementia.

While investigating the reasons behind them becoming estranged, he uncovers a scandal which ‘changes their lives forever’.

Exile also stars Claire Goose, who appeared in Waking the Dead, Olivia Coleman from Peep Show, Shaun Dooley out of Single Married Other and Timothy West, who appeared in Bleak House.

The series is expected to hit our screens in the spring.

Simm, 40, who previously worked with Abbott in the hit BBC drama State of Play, said: “Danny’s written a great script.

“It’s a wonderful cast.”