FILMING for a television show produced by Hollywood icons Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg is taking place in Oxford this week.

Actors were spotted strolling around Radcliffe Square in the sweltering heat, filming for the upcoming World War Two mini-series Masters of the Air.

Wartime vintage vehicles were also parked in Catte Street and outside the Bodleian Library.

A passer-by said: “It is always exciting to see filming taking place in Oxford. We are used to Endeavour, but this looks like being a really popular show which some big names appearing. I didn't see any of them though – although there were lots of cars and actors walking around in costume.”

Masters of the Air is based on Donald L Miller’s book, is a follow-up to the Emmy-award-winning Second World War mini-series, Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

The TV show is predominately being filmed at Dalton Barracks military base in Abingdon, where airplanes can be filmed taxing around the runway.

A source working on the production said for the next few days filming would not be taking place at the military base.

This is because the production is filming scenes of the main characters in a Prisoner of War Camp and leaving a train station.

This meant on Monday and Tuesday Merton Street had to be closed to the public to allow for filming.

Catte Street and New College Lane remained open, however, with stop-and-go signs to show pedestrians when they could pass through.

Filming began in April, with hopes that the TV show would be ready to air on Apple TV later this year.

The premiere date has now been pushed back until 2022, however, because of several delays – including two Covid outbreaks on set which shut the production down for two weeks at a time.

The series will focus on the 100th Bombardment Group (a unit of the US Air Force) who were based in Thorpe Abbotts in Suffolk during the war, with each member being portrayed by a Hollywood star.

Northern Irish Actor, Anthony Boyle, who rose to fame when he played Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on the West End, will take a leading role.

Austin Butler, who starred in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; and Callum Turner, who recently starred in Emma, are among the main characters.

Boyle will play Major Harry Crosby, who was the lead navigator for the 100th Bomb Group and Butler has been cast to play Major Gale Cleven.