One of Ralf Little's earliest films is to finally see the light of day, nearly two decades after he made it.

The Royle Family and Death In Paradise star was 22 when he landed the lead role in comedy darts movie Poison Arrows, shooting at the Embassy World Championship in 2003 as Perry "The Poison Arrow" Peters.

Sporting a costume described as "half-lizard, half-superhero", he filmed scenes alongside notables of the sport, including darts supremo Barry Hearn, presenter Bobby George and renowned players such as Martin 'Wolfie' Adams, Trina 'Golden Girl' Gulliver, Tony 'Silverback' O'Shea and the late Andy 'The Viking' Fordham.

Billed as "a quirky, futuristic, rags-to-riches film that tracks the rise and fall - and rise again - of Perry Peters", his character hailed from a family of kung-fu experts and succeeded in reaching the final of the 2008 championship despite a bizarre under-arm throwing action.

Filming took place in between matches at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, in Surrey and it was hoped the movie would be released to coincide with the tournament the following year.

Unfortunately, the production ran out of money and was shelved until 2018, by which point Little had become a far more in-demand star and was unable to complete it.

This forced director and co-writer Simon Sprackling to shoot new footage and recut the film, focusing instead on the character of Peters's former team captain Rocky Goldfingers, played by The Curse's Geoff Bell, as he completes a fifteen-year sentence for the murder of Perry, his former teammate and protégé - a crime he continues to claim he did not commit.

Little is uncredited in the film but you can see some of his original scenes in the trailer:

Sprackling said: "In 2003 I started making a film about the rise, fall and rise again of a futuristic young darts superhero. 20 years later I completed a film about the boy's cynical team captain - the man convicted of his murder - and the documentary filmmaker who tries to prove him innocent. It's a film that has chopped and changed but refused to die and almost killed me in the process. So I am very proud and happy to see it leave home at last."

Poison Arrows will be in selected cinemas from 20th December and available on digital download platforms from 2nd January 2023.