The cameras have just started rolling in Manchester on new drama Mrs Lowry & Son, which chronicles the fraught relationship between the artist LS Lowry and his mother, Elizabeth.

The "mother" in this case is played by Vanessa Redgrave, and the film will chronicle how Lowry lived his entire life with his overbearing mother, a bed-ridden and depressed presence who never encouraged his artistic ambitions.

Yet while spending his days as a rent collector, Lowry nurtured his passion for painting, taking classes at night and spending time at the easel into the early hours of the morning. Elizabeth proved to be both the curse and catalyst for his work, constantly criticising him while also driving him to create something even she can appreciate – helping to spur artwork that is still considered some of the most important in both the North West of England and beyond.

Adrian Noble is in the director's chair here, working from a script by Martyn Hesford, who adapts his own play.