AWARD-WINNING actress Sheila Hancock has reignited her love affair with Oxford and hoped her new film would help older people overcome loneliness.

The 85-year-old visited the city last week for a special screening of Edie at the Phoenix Picturehouse in Jericho.

The film sees her play an elderly woman who attempts a lifelong ambition of climbing a mountain in the Scottish Highlands following the death of her husband.

Hancock, who has written two best-selling books on her own grief and life after the death of her husband John Thaw - who played Inspector Morse - in 2002, said the film was being well received.

She said: "I do hope it inspires people, not to climb a mountain of course, but to realise that they can get out there and do something.

"I have had people coming out of screenings saying it has inspired them and that's much more satisfying than any reviews.

"What's taken me by surprise is how positively young people have reacted to the film as well - my character develops a relationship with a young man."

Miss Hancock said older people still write to her asking for advice on how to tackle loneliness and grief.

She said: "I always say it's really down to them to go down the road to the town hall to find out what's going on or look up joining a club in the area."

Chief executive of Age UK Oxfordshire, Penny Thewlis, said: "I am thrilled that films such as Edie are showing ageing in a positive and ambitious light.

"We are in touch every day with older people who are taking on new challenges, learning new things and having new experiences.

"While you don’t need to climb a mountain, like Edie, a new challenge could simply be picking up a paintbrush, learning to salsa or joining an exercise class."

The 'gruelling' process saw the actress train in the gym for three months and take on Nordic walking after being told she would actually need to climb the 731-metre Suilven mountain in Scotland.

Despite being 'hugely satisfied' by completing the climb and the filming Miss Hancock said she never watches herself back and wasn't about to start 61 years into her career.

The job of watching the film was left instead to those who filled the Phoenix Picturehouse in Jericho on Friday night.

The actress waited patiently inside the cinema's bar ahead of a Q&A.

With her husband's role as Morse and a recent cameo herself in Endeavour, she said Oxford had a special place in her heart.

She said: "It's a beautiful city, I love being here - I was here recently for the lovely memorial to Colin Dexter, it's not hard to see how he was inspired in his writing.

"Obviously there's the Morse connection and I'm still close to the crew, particularly Roger Allam and my daughter of course."

She also fondly recalled performing at both the Oxford Playhouse and the New Theatre and even visiting the Phoenix under its previous guise 'The Scala'.

Edie will be released in UK cinemas on Friday.