Son of Man from UNCLE

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Those of you who follow these things will know that Robert Vaughn, who played Napoleon Solo in the famous Sixties show, was, until recently, thought to be Matthew's father.

That would have lent a familial resonance to the remake which, hopefully, will be filmed late next year after a screenplay has been written and approved.

But it has since emerged that Matthew's biological father was, in fact, George de Vere Drummond - a British aristocrat.

As Matthew, who directed the movie Layer Cake, once noted to me: 'It's a weird thing, this father business.'

Executives at Warner Brothers in Los Angeles have been assembling writers to meet Matthew and go over script ideas.

The original series, which also starred David McCallum as fellow U.N.C.L.E. agent Illya Kuryakin, ran for four years from 1964-68 and it was a massive transatlantic hit because viewers liked the two

stars and all the spy paraphernalia they used.

The plan is to update the original concept into a fastpaced thriller to rival the James Bond film franchise.

Interestingly, 007 creator Ian Fleming was involved in the early development of the U.N.C.L.E. TV show, but didn't

stay with it. Vaughn Jnr will probably shoot another film early next year and then work on the U.N.C.L.E. movie, which will have a big studio budget.

And what did 'U.N.C.L.E.' stand for? United Network Command for Law Enforcement, of course.