Rafe Spall has landed the star role in the big-screen adaptation of Swallows And Amazons.

The I Give It A Year actor has signed up to play the mysterious figure of Captain Flint in the film version of Arthur Ransome’s much-loved classic, BBC Films announced.

Christine Langan, head of BBC Films, said the movie would remain “faithful to the novel”.

Rafe Spall
Rafe Spall (Joel Ryan/Invision)

But she said director Philippa Lowthorpe was also determined to make a film that “modern audiences can relate to”.

Producers are talking to “a very lovely British actress” about signing up for the role of the mother, while the children, who are also yet to be cast, will be “at the heart of the narrative”.

The film will be set a few years later than the novel, as the Second World War approaches.

(Ian West/PA)
Dan Stevens had previously been linked to the role (Ian West/PA)

Former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens had been previously linked to the role of Captain Flint.

The novel, published in 1930, follows the lives of the Walker and Blackett children during the school holidays one summer.

The last film version was released in 1974.

Rafe, the son of Mr Turner actor Timothy Spall, has enjoyed film roles in Prometheus and Life Of Pi.