THE great-grandson of Oxford English Dictionary’s founder has backed a legal challenge by Mel Gibson and slammed a ‘ridiculous’ decision not to use Oxford to shoot a Hollywood film.

The Professor and the Madman will tell the tale of Sir James Murray, the OED’s primary editor, and William Chester Minor - who contributed 10,000 word entries from Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.

But Mr Gibson, who owns the film rights and will play professor Murray, filed a 21-page lawsuit against Voltage Pictures alleging they had broken the terms of the production agreement by refusing to shoot ‘critical’ scenes in Oxford.

Sir James Murray’s great grandson Oswyn Murray criticised the ‘ridiculous and short-sighted’ decision not to use Oxford’s iconic buildings central to the story.

The 80-year-old said: “It would be a great pity, he lived at 78 Banbury Road and the story is embedded in Oxford.

“Maybe it reflects that the filmmakers don’t have a special interest in the English audience.

“Some of it has been shot in Dublin because they couldn’t find anywhere that resembled a derelict lunatic asylum and I can understand that.

“But it seems ridiculous not to use one of the most famous and scenic areas of England.”

Christ Church, the Bodleian Library and Oxford University Press in Walton Street were some of the iconic buildings set to be filmed at in January but Voltage Pictures reportedly withheld the £1.4m needed to film there.

The film adaptation of a book by author Simon Winchester charts the epic 70-year journey which led to the first edition - complete with more than 400,000 words in 1928.

It originally began in 1857 in London before its first editor Herbert Coleridge died of tuberculosis.

In 1879, a contract was signed between the Philological Society and Oxford University Press which would see the dictionary produced in ten years.

After five years the team had only managed the section A to Ant and Sir James Murray was brought in to speed up the process.

A scriptorium was set up in Banbury Road and the public encouraged to send in words, 10,000 of which came from Minor in Broadmoor.

Oxford guide and author Rob Walters, who wrote a book on the OED’s creation, said: “I’m really shocked they won’t film in Oxford - it is the Oxford English Dictionary after all.

“It may have started in London but as soon as James Murray moved to Oxford most of the work was done here.

“I’m with Mel Gibson on this one.”

Dr Murray, an emeritus fellow at Balliol College, where his great grandfather worked, was in support of the Oxford English Dictionary’s creation story being brought to the big screen.

But he did have another reservation about the production.

He said: “James Murray was extremely thin and an athletic person, he did a lot of mountain walking - the only distinctive thing about him was his beard.

“From what I have seen Mel Gibson is a different build entirely.

“But it’s wonderful the film is being made.”

Christ Church, the Bodleian Library and Oxford University Press were some of the iconic settings to be used.

Voltage failed to respond to a request for comment when approached by the Oxford Mail.