UPDATE: |An underrated James McAvoy crime film from Trainspotting author is airing on TV tonight News

The Scottish actor is one of the UK’s most popular stars

An underrated James McAvoy crime film based on a novel from the author of Trainspotting is airing on TV tonight (Thursday, April 24) for free across the UK.

Irvine Welsh is one of the UK’s most successful authors of all time, focusing on some of the nation’s grittiest characters ever brought to life.

Welsh’s most successful novel is 1993’s Trainspotting, which uses non-linear and loosely connected short-stories to tell the story of Scottish heroin addicts.

Once the Danny Boyle film adaption was released in 1996, Welsh’s work has become a rite of passage for any literature fan.

Starring Ewan McGregor and boasting a stunning soundtrack, Trainspotting grossed over £70 million at the box office against a budget of just £1.5 million.

Despite Trainspotting not getting a sequel in cinemas until 2017, one of Welsh’s other books had a big screen adaptation that deserves to be held in a similar vein.

Based on the 1998 novel of the same name, 2013’s Filth tells the story of a detective investigating a murder case in Edinburgh.

Starring X-Men’s McAvoy, the film sees him struggling with borderline personality disorder following the end of his marriage.

On top of this, McAvoy’s character is battling feelings of guilt over the death of his brother, wanting to dress as his wife and suicidal thoughts.

Filling out the cast is Billy Elliot actor Jamie Bell and Jim Broadbent, who appeared in all four Bridget Jones movies.

Pulling no punches from beginning to end, Filth is one of the grittier films to ever grace the big screen and one that should only be watched by adults.

Despite Filth being similar to Trainspotting in terms of his intense themes, critics only gave it a score of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you can get past the kind of images that will stick with you for weeks, Filth is a film that should have your attention over a decade after its release.

Previously speaking to HeyUGuys about the film, McAvoy said: “Reading the book was a very sad experience because I loved playing Bruce and he’s one of the characters that I miss playing the most.

“He revealed so much about me, but also there was strangely very little tension in the performance because it all comes out.

“It was an incredible process and so reading the book was quite sad because it was like saying goodbye to him.”

Filth airs at 9pm on Thursday, April 24, on Film 4 and channel4.com