Doctor Who actor Matt Smith is appearing in a new BBC film about the 1948 Olympics, inspired by a book written by Oxford author Janie Hampton.

The Austerity Olympics, which vividly recalls what happened when the Games last came to London, was published in paperback this week.

Ms Hampton, from Cowley, said the new BBC film called Bert and Dickie, starring Matt Smith and Sam Hoare, was based on her book.

Written by William Ivory, the drama is set in the run-up to the 1948 Games and tells the story of Bertram Bushnell and Richard Burnell.

Thrown together just before the final of the double sculls, the young men defied the odds to achieve gold.

Smith plays Bert Bushnell while Hoare plays Dickie Burnell in the 90-minute film, which is expected to be shown on BBC One in May.

Ms Hampton said: “The film is based on my whole book and it’s a lovely period drama.

“I was delighted to get the chance to play an extra waving a flag in the film, and I hope the scene doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor.

“Matt Smith is very well known as an actor because he plays Doctor Who.

“Some of the scenes were shot at the Leander Club in Henley and I’m hoping the film will be good publicity for my book in the run-up to the Olympics.

“Life has come full circle because there is a recession, but what people call austerity now is nothing compared to what life was like in 1948 – there was still clothes rationing and some national teams had to bring their own food and sleep in classrooms. The whole Games cost about £700,000.”

Ms Hampton’s book was first published in 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1948 Games and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

The author, who has written more than 15 books, took two-and-a-half years to complete The Austerity Olympics, after conducting 200 interviews, some of them with Olympic competitors.

She set out to capture the flavour of athletes turning up for an event, competing for medals and then going back to work the next day.

And her tales of teams being ferried to events on double-decker buses, and being billeted in Army camps, is a far cry from the regeneration of Stratford in East London, and the hi-tech arenas of the 2012 London Games.

Ms Hampton added: “I applied for tickets for the Olympic Games but unfortunately I didn’t get any.

“So I’m going to take my grandson Bill, who is nearly five, along to Hyde Park to watch the marathon.

“I think the Olympics is something that everyone can get involved in.

“If they can’t get tickets to go to the Games, they can watch the coverage on TV and go along and see the Olympic Torch come past in the torch relay.”

Ms Hampton, who is Olympics correspondent for The Oldie magazine, will talk about her book at the Oxford Literary Festival on Sunday, April 1.

The Austerity Olympics is published by Aurum Press, price £8.99.