Get Carter is widely regarded as one of the best British films - and one of the best crime films – ever made so it is a brave decision to remake it.

Mike Hodges’ 1971 film starred Michael Caine as the titular Jack Carter, a gangland enforcer in London who returns home to the north east to find out who killed his brother.

Unlike the maligned 2000-remake featuring Sylvester Stallone, this new stage version adapted by writer Torben Betts and director Lorne Campbell – at Richmond Theatre from March 15 to 19 - keeps the action grounded in gritty 1960s Tyneside.

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The pair also went back to the source material – Ted Lewis’ novel Jack Returns Home – for a play that trades cinematic landmarks for psychological intensity.

Actor Michael Hodgson, who plays gang boss Cyril Kinnear, told us the stage version will be a significantly different experience from the film.

He said: “First of all, you won’t get a cockney actor in the lead part.

“Although, you know what, who cares? The father in Billy Elliot is Scottish even though it is very clearly about a mining community in Durham. It’s kind of alright, nobody says anything.

“It still has a lot of the core characters but some of the imagery of the film won’t be there. It feels like it is more of a psychological examination of the characters. Lorne creates a very psychologically dark landscape.”

While there are no grey landscapes, beaches or foreboding car parks, Michael said the scenery in Get Carter is a marvel.

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Michael last came to Richmond in Catch 22, which saw a crashed bomber plane dominate the stage and said this production’s set – by Studio59, who were involved in the Olympic closing ceremony – is equally as impressive.

He said: “Funnily, it’s a similar thing with Get Carter.

“Their set is incredible, though I’ve only seen it in part. It is being constructed as we speak.

“It is this huge explosion of bricks that form the inside of a kiln, part of a steelworks.

“There is a mountain of bricks that form at the top of the stage and spew out and there are kind of walkways in between. The set is vast so we’re quite excited about moving into it.”

The constraints of the stage compared to film’s freedom to pan, zoom and explore different locations, also work to make this Get Carter more intense.

Michael said: “Originally it was a novel and it was about people. And of course it has become so iconic, for whatever reason.

“Some people think it is good, other people think it is a bit lightweight. I’m not entirely sure. I think it’s pretty good.

“It is a very interesting thing – it is a bit like social history. You look at it and see lots of wonderful actors.

“I think the stage will bring out something else, something more psychological and hopefully the reason why these characters behave the way they do.

“Yes, there is a lot of violence in it. Yes there is confrontational and rich language in it.

“It is about characters trying very hard to get to the bottom of things and maybe save their own skins in a deeply unseemly world.

“Jack has some speeches to the audience and I hope that they let him in and it becomes his journey. I hope they follow him, it will become his quest for the truth.”

Get Carter is at Richmond Theatre from March 15 to 19. Tickets cost from £12.50. Go to atgtickets.com/richmond