Two days ago, HTBS wrote about the BBC One 90-minute drama Bert and Dickie which is about the two oarsmen, Bert Bushnell and Richard ‘Dickie’ Burnell who became Olympic champions in the double sculls in 1948. Bert and Dickie is written by William Ivory and filming starts this month. While the actor Matt Smith is going to play Bert Bushnell, HTBS can now reveal that Dickie Burnell is going to be played by actor Sam Hoare (on the left), who with his 6’5″ at least has the height to portray Burnell. Hoare has been in movies like The Golden Compass and Captain America. You will find a list of his acting parts on television and in theatres by clicking here.

Hoare was educated at Eton and it is said that he rowed there, how well, I don’t know. In an e-mail from one of Bert Bushnell’s daughters, Sue Bushnell, she writes that she and her sisters are thrilled to be able to watch some of the filming later this month. “It will be very strange,’ Sue writes, “to see my father being portrayed by an actor, especially one who plays Doctor Who!”

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Smith and Hoare can do Bert and Dickie justice.