Toby Jones reunites with Mackenzie Crook as first look at Mars Express film is revealed

The first picture of Toby Jones as Professor Colin Pillinger has been released for Mars Express, a new British film telling the remarkable true story of the scientist who led an ambitious mission to land a British-built probe on Mars.

The film marks Mackenzie Crook's first feature as a director and reunites him with Jones more than a decade after the pair first played Andy and Lance in the much-loved BBC Four comedy Detectorists. Emily Watson also stars as Dr Judith Pillinger, Colin's wife and fellow scientist, who shared his determination to discover whether life could exist on Mars.

The first-look image, released on 10 November, shows Jones and Watson together in character, offering an early glimpse of the film following the completion of filming in Yorkshire. With its mix of British ingenuity, scientific ambition and a mission that came heartbreakingly close to success, Mars Express tells a story that captured the country's imagination more than 20 years ago.

From Detectorists to a mission to Mars

Jones, who recently portrayed campaigner Alan Bates in ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office, takes on another real-life British figure whose determination helped bring national attention to an extraordinary story.

Set against the backdrop of the late 1990s, the film follows Colin and Judith as they pursue their dream of sending a small British spacecraft to Mars to search for signs of life.

Colin was a planetary scientist at the Open University and the driving force behind Beagle 2, a project that brought together the university, the University of Leicester and aerospace company EADS Astrium. Named after HMS Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his famous voyage of discovery, the lander became the UK's first mission to another planet.

The European Space Agency later praised Colin's inspirational enthusiasm, recognising his determination to bring together scientists, engineers and other specialists to achieve something that appeared almost impossible.

The screenplay has been written by Joe Bone, who co-wrote the 2018 thriller The Vanishing, and is based on Colin's own account, My Life on Mars: The Beagle 2 Diaries. Big Talk Studios and Altitude are producing the film, which was developed with BBC Film.

What happened to Beagle 2?

The real story behind Mars Express began long before the spacecraft reached its destination, with Colin and his team working to create a lander capable of searching the Martian surface for evidence of life.

The project eventually became part of the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission, which launched in June 2003 carrying the British-built Beagle 2 probe. On 19 December, the lander separated from the spacecraft and began its final journey towards Mars, where it was expected to touch down on Christmas Day.

Its destination was Isidis Planitia, a vast impact basin close to the Martian equator. However, the signal confirming a successful landing never arrived, leaving the team unable to establish whether Beagle 2 had survived its descent.

For years, the mission was regarded as a failure, with scientists unable to explain exactly what had happened to the missing probe. Colin died in May 2014, without ever learning the truth about the spacecraft he had worked so hard to build.

Then, in January 2015, images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter finally revealed what had happened. Beagle 2 had successfully reached the Martian surface, landing approximately five kilometres from the centre of its intended landing area.

The images suggested that the probe had remained intact but had failed to deploy all four of its solar panels properly. Because the radio antenna was covered, the spacecraft could not communicate with Earth, meaning that the mission had come remarkably close to achieving its objectives.

The discovery offered belated recognition for Colin and his team, confirming that their spacecraft had successfully completed the difficult journey to the surface of another planet.

When will Mars Express be released?

Mars Express is being produced by Big Talk Studios and Altitude, with Altitude also responsible for its theatrical release in the UK and Ireland. The film remains under its working title, and an official cinema release date has yet to be announced.

For Crook, the project represents an important moment in his career, taking him from the television success of Detectorists into directing his first feature film. His reunion with Jones also gives viewers who enjoyed their performances as Andy and Lance another opportunity to see the pair working together, this time on a very different British story.

The film promises to explore the personal determination behind the mission as well as the disappointment that followed when Beagle 2 fell silent. With the first image now released, attention turns to the official trailer and the announcement of when audiences will be able to see this extraordinary chapter of British space exploration on the big screen.

Images: Dean Rogers / Big Talk Studios / Altitude.