[/floatl]The Scotsman: Chariots of Fire sequel to chart Liddell's life in Japanese PoW camp
A SEQUEL to Chariots of Fire, the 1981 film charting the life of the Scots Olympic hero Eric Liddell, left, is to be made. The film, titled Beyond The Chariots, will chronicle the athlete's experiences at the hands of the Japanese at a prisoner-of-war camp in China. Multi-Oscar winner Chariots of Fire told the story of Liddell's 400m triumph at the 1924 Paris Olympics. The devout Christian famously refused to run the 100m that year because a qualifying heat was held on a Sunday. A one-man play of Beyond The Chariots was performed by writer Rich Swingle at the Edinburgh Festival and the film is now in pre-production. It will also focus on the later life of athlete Harold Abrahams, who also featured in Chariots of Fire. Swingle, 37, said: "We are hoping trailers for the film will be ready in time for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. "I've unearthed some interesting facts: for example how Winston Churchill acted on behalf of Liddell when he was interred as a Japanese prisoner of war." Liddell gave up athletics and a promising career as a Scotland rugby winger to become a missionary in China. He was held at Weifang, in Shandong Province, which was used by the Japanese to intern foreign and Chinese prisoners. Liddell died of a brain tumour in February 1945, just months before liberation.
