Writer Blake Morrison, of Skipton, North Yorkshire, kept a candid journal while his father Arthur battled terminal stomach cancer, in which he recalled childhood memories and contemplated their relationship.

A year after Arthur passed away in 1991, the intensely personal and moving diaries were turned into the autobiographical novel And When Did You Last See Your Father?, which soon became a bestseller and was translated into many languages.

Blake's heart-rending story has now been transferred to the cinema by director Anand Tucker . . .and the all-star cast promises to make it a huge success when it is released in October.

The former Ermysted's Grammar School pupil has told of his delight at the cast, which sees Colin Firth playing him, Jim Broadbent "stealing the show" as his father, and Juliet Stevenson starring as his mother Kim.

Blake, 56, a dad-of-two who now lives in London, said: "I'm being played by Mr Darcy . . .three people actually play me at different ages but it's Colin Firth who plays me as a 40-year-old.

"It's a tremendous cast . . . I think my parents would be flabbergasted too. I went on set once or twice and had just the right amount of involvement . . . it was someone else's project but they were fair in the amount they consulted me." Following the same pattern as the book, the film centres on
Blake and Arthur's delicate father-son relationship, with events jumping from Blake's childhood
to "the present day", when he is trying to deal with his father's illness.

Even though the majority of events take place in North Yorkshire, most of the scenes were filmed
in Derbyshire and Sheffield, although the rolling Yorkshire Dales make an appearance.

He revealed that many North Yorkshire residents wrote to him after reading the book to tell him
when they had last seen his father, who was a local doctor.

He said: "The book became my equivalent of FriendsReunited.com . . . my first girlfriend wrote
from Australia - the one who'd broken my heart at 16 by emigrating - and other old friendships were resumed.

"I still have the letters . . . they fill a large filing cabinet."

"My dad was a doctor, so he was well known in the area.

"Many readers took up the challenge of the book's title and told me when they had last seen
their fathers . . . and one or two from Yorkshire even told me when they had last seen mine."

And When Did You Last See Your Father? was screened for the first time at last week's Cannes Film festival, to rave reviews, and will be released in cinemas on October 5.