The company behind the movie, First Line Films, say it is the first-ever performance enabled by generative artificial intelligence.

The Top Gun star was originally cast in As Deep As The Grave five years ago but had been unable to work on set due to illness.

He will play Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan. Kilmer previously claimed Cherokee ancestry and was a vocal supporter of Native American rights.

The filmmakers say they have worked closely with Kilmer's estate and his daughter, Mercedes.

They said in a press release: "At the time that ⁠he was cast, Kilmer expressed that the character of Fintan spoke to him both culturally and spiritually."

Written and directed by Coloradan Coerte ‌Voorhees, the film follows southwestern archaeologists Ann Morris, played by Tin Star actress Abigail Lawrie, and Harry Potter star Tom Felton.

It focuses on their excavations in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, also exploring the lives of the ​Navajo people.

First Line Films, which is based in ​New Mexico, has not revealed what technology it will be using, but described it as "state-of-the-art generative AI technology".

In 2021, Kilmer used the AI voice platform Sonantic to develop an AI-generated version of his voice, which was permanently damaged after undergoing a tracheostomy for throat cancer.

It used archival audio Kilmer provided, and was used in the Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, in which Kilmer reprised his famous Iceman role.

As Deep as the Grave uses Kilmer's voice from after his tracheostomy.

The movie, which is in post-production, is expected to be released later this year.

California-born Kilmer, who was one of the best-paid actors in the 1990s, had numerous spats with directors over the years, earning a reputation for being difficult to work with.

He famously admitted he had not been keen to take the role that made him famous, Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in Top Gun alongside Tom Cruise in 1986.

He also portrayed Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.

Last year, the launch of the first fully AI-generated actor, Tilly Norwood, created waves in the entertainment industry, as it continues to grapple with innovations in AI threatening the roles of its workforce.

SAG-AFTRA, the US actors' union, recently wrapped up a month of negotiations with the major studios without reaching a new deal.

Meanwhile, in the UK, members of the actors' union Equity voted overwhelmingly to refuse digital scanning on set in a bid to secure adequate AI protections.

The AI debate has also impacted the music world, with plans to let AI firms use music without permission abandoned by the UK government earlier this week.

However, allow me to make the case that this document published by the government today represents something very important for all of us. And the reason, surprising as this might sound, has nothing to do with steel.

The strategy itself is, for those of us interested in such things, a big moment for the steel sector. There will be more money given out to steel producers - about £2.5bn - some of it going to the British Steel works in Scunthorpe that have been effectively nationalised, some going to support private steel makers around the UK in their efforts to produce lower carbon metal.

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Perhaps the most interesting of all the ambitions contained within it is a pledge to try to raise the proportion of steel we use in this country that is also made in this country. Right now that proportion is running at a record low of 30%, which, when you think about it, is rather depressing.

Think of all those wind turbines dotting the countryside and offshore, or for that matter much of the infrastructure surrounding us. Most of that still is not made - indeed cannot be made - in the steelworks and with the steel equipment we have in this country.

The ambition of the strategy is to raise the proportion of domestically produced steel to 50%, which is certainly better than the current level but is basically back to the level that used to prevail before COVID.

However, a far more significant element of the Steel Strategy - the bit that matters to all of us - concerns trade rules.

The background here is important. For some years British steel producers have struggled to compete with their overseas counterparts. Take something like galvanised steel: right now the country is facing an influx of very cheap galvanised steel from countries like Vietnam and Turkey. Most of those producers enjoy subsidies and tax breaks their British competitors do not.

The upshot is it is fiendishly difficult, if not impossible, for British producers to compete. This is fast becoming an existential crisis for the industry. There have been some trade barriers on this kind of steel, but they were due to expire this June, and anyway, were not particularly prohibitive. In fact, anyone who wanted to import cheap galvanised steel from Turkey or Vietnam was able to do so without paying any tariff whatsoever.

The centrepiece of the steel strategy is a brand new tariff of 50% on many of these steel imports and (just as, if not more important) new, lower quotas on those steel imports.

Now, in some senses this is not particularly surprising. At some point the regime needed to be updated - it was due to expire soon, after all. And Europe already has tariffs coming in that look very similar to these new British ones.

However, there is something more significant about this moment. It is the first time since the beginning of the most recent trade war - indeed the first time since Britain took back control of its trade policy post-Brexit - that it has raised tariffs to these kinds of levels.

It's very hard to make like-for-like comparisons given the convoluted detail of trade barriers, but the long and short of it is that these are probably the biggest increases in trade barriers imposed by a British government in at least a generation.

While other countries, most glaringly America under President Donald Trump, had raised many of their tariff barriers, up until this moment Britain had held firm. For many ministers this was a matter of national pride. This after all, after all, is the country that "invented" free trade, the country that abolished the Corn Laws in the 19th century and brought the worlds the notion of "comparative advantage". Many felt that to raise tariffs, even in an environment where everyone else was, would be an abomination.

However, it is a sign of the times but now that is precisely what this government has done. Britain will now have some of the highest steel tariffs it has imposed in its entire history, in an effort to protect its domestic industry.

Britain, in short, is dipping its toes into the waters of protectionism.

Many, including the government itself, will point out that the way these new tariffs are structured is far more sophisticated and far less brutal than the tariffs imposed in America. They will point out that they are mostly just mirroring what's happening in Europe.

Even so, it's hard not to conclude that this represents a watershed moment. This new Steel Strategy may look, on the face of it, like a boring, arcane document for a relatively small sector of the economy. But, an economic and historical terms, it is dynamite.

Cobbler Vince Ayris, 62, is a former boxer and says he can handle himself in most situations, but the frequent raids on his shoe repair shop frustrate him.

"It does annoy us when we get hit. Someone nicked all my leather insoles the other day."

Too often, criminals get away with it; that's the overwhelming verdict from shopkeepers like Vince on Swindon high street - and that was also the finding of our exclusive national YouGov crime survey.

The first study of its kind, it reveals the extent of public concern over how crime is policed, and the experiences of victims, but it also asks what police officers think.

While more than half the public is confident the police investigate major crimes such as violence and sexual offences, confidence plummets to just 14% when it comes to lesser crimes like shoplifting.

Havelock Street in Swindon is like any high street in any town centre in Britain, and shop owners here feel under siege.

Vince has set up what he calls Meerkat, a shopkeepers' alliance to quickly share information on thieves in the area.

As he buffs shoes and repairs heels, Vince says: "I would say shoplifting has gone up and we're looking for support from the police to help and guide us because some of them are violent as well.

"I think people look at the police in a different way now. The uniform's not as respected, like it used to be."

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On the beat on Swindon high street, Police Constable Roshni Thapa amiably says "Hi Kev" to a man on a bench, and he rains expletives back at her. "Okay, mind your language," she tells him.

She has been an officer in the town for four years. She says the abuse does not bother her, adding: "He's not in a good mood. I've known him for years. It is what it is."

PC Thapa is clearly among the 84% of those working in the police who are proud of their job, but our national survey also found just 29% feel appreciated by the public and 82% believe the public has an inaccurate perception of what they do, largely because of the media.

PC Thapa says: "You will always have someone who will speak negatively about the police or yourself, maybe they've had a bad experience with the police before, but that's not always the case. There are people who appreciate you and respect you."

Our poll found 62% of the public do trust ordinary police officers but it falls to 48% for their bosses, and there is a strong public feeling that the police spend too little time in the community.

Virtually all police officers agree and feel they are understaffed and underfunded, with three-quarters saying there is too much bureaucracy.

Asked if she would like to spend more time on the beat, PC Thapa is emphatic. "Of course, 1,000%. This is where I guess the frustration is within the community, that maybe we're not out on the beat that often. But it's not because we don't want to. It's because we are tied up with the paperwork."

Even so, PC Thapa seems to know the name of every shopkeeper on her beat, and it's not long before she and her partner are called over by a member of the public to deal with a stolen bike.

The national survey finds only 40% of those who reported a crime were satisfied with the police handling, compared to 50% dissatisfied. Of those who didn't report a crime, the most common reason was that it would not be investigated.

People who experienced crime in Swindon talked of a general acceptance that reporting it would not come to much.

One woman who reported her purse stolen from her car said: "I think maybe they could have done more because there probably was footage. But yeah, they didn't take it much further."

Most people said they would report a crime, but one supermarket worker seemed exasperated at how often his shop had to do it. "It's terrible, absolutely terrible," he says, describing the shoplifters as "organised gangs".

Kelly Archer, who runs Rowen's Closet Arcadia, tells us she'd had crystals and even wands stolen. "You won't get good karma from a stolen wand."

She adds: "We need more funding and more policing.

"At the minute you barely see anybody on the street and when you do it's like, 'oh, oh look at that', I can see them, that's amazing, and it is like, 'it's a miracle'."

Nationally, shoplifting is on the rise - but our survey found most people think all crime is increasing, which is not the case.

The neighbourhood policing team in Swindon say they take all crimes seriously. Acting Inspector Tristan Winter has been in policing for nearly 20 years.

He says: "No crime is too small. Sometimes, when you take care of the lower-level crime, it stops some of the bigger crime.

"In retail crime, people are grafting, trying to earn a living, and they shouldn't be impacted by the abuse and the theft that happens within shops. So, I don't think lower-level crime is the right terminology. They're all equally as important to the individual that suffered them."

Watch The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee: Is policing fit for purpose? at 8pm on Thursday

Juan Joseph, 43, had a lock knife in his pocket when he was arrested at an Ibis hotel for allegedly breaching the Official Secrets and National Security Acts in January 2025.

A search of his nearby home led to the discovery of a homemade card falsely identifying him as an MI5 officer, the Old Bailey has heard.

Joseph, a former IT contractor at the security service, was detained after he allegedly leaked sensitive information to a foreign power via emails and tried to arrange a meeting at an embassy in Latvia as he pursued a complaint against MI5.

In a police interview, Joseph maintained he was a "whistleblower" and was permitted to have the lock knife "as an officer" for "defence", having bought it online.

He referred to taking self-defence training at MI5's London headquarters, Thames House, with a ninjutsu instructor, which he said was "swords and knives and stuff".

However, Joseph told police he only carried the knife as a deterrent and had not used it.

He also said he had a first dan black belt in taekwondo, as well as training in aikido, judo, and wrestling.

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When asked about his health, Joseph claimed to have suffered a heart condition after being "assaulted by a needle attack" in Thames House.

He told officers a swastika had been put up in the office and he was stabbed with a needle containing a substance that made him "very poorly".

"I've now got a permanent problem with my heart which is hyperkinesia, which my heart doesn't pump properly," he said.

Joseph insisted he had not done anything wrong and was the victim of racial abuse attacks while working at MI5, according to interview transcripts read out in court.

Commenting on the allegations made against him, he said: "I don't believe there is anything there that could be damaging to the United Kingdom, otherwise I wouldn't do it, you know?

"I can only reiterate, there's no malice there, there's no wilful intent for me to hurt anybody."

He added: "I'm not a threat to the country, I would never do that you know. It's quite hurtful that people are saying things like that about me and that's the God's honest truth."

Joseph had the highest vetting clearance during his 11 years at the security service, working as a systems engineer, a security IT management engineer, and a senior support engineer.

His contract was terminated in October 2020 after he was taken to hospital displaying what colleagues described as "mental fragility", "extreme anxiety" and "paranoia".

Joseph made unfounded complaints about "racialist comments" and violent offences, including rape, child abuse, and torture, jurors have heard.

The alleged offending began in 2024 after a bid to bring a private prosecution for an alleged assault in 2019 was rejected.

The defendant, from Sutton, south London, has denied four charges under the Official Secrets Act and National Security Act.

He has also denied having an article with a blade or point when he was arrested at the hotel in Sutton.

The Old Bailey trial, which is being partly heard in the absence of the public and press, continues.

Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and Alireza Farasati, 22, are accused of spying on the Israeli Embassy, a synagogue in London and other Jewish organisations.

A woman living in the UK, who has been accused of being a Mossad agent, is also alleged to have been targeted.

Both defendants are facing a charge of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between 9 July and 15 August last year.

Prosecutor Louise Attrill said they "are suspected of assisting the Iranian intelligence service by conducting hostile surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Israeli and the Jewish community".

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The alleged surveillance targets included the Israeli Embassy, the Israeli Consulate, London's Bevis Marks Synagogue, a Jewish community centre, and the Community Security Trust - a charity that provides security advice.

Delivery driver Shahsavani and Farasati appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

They did not enter a plea to a single charge under the National Security Act 2023 and were remanded in custody ahead of the next hearing at the Old Bailey on 17 April.

Shahsavani, wearing a blue puffa jacket, was seen blowing a kiss towards the public gallery as he was led away to the cells.

He is alleged to have "tasked" Farasati "to conduct the surveillance activity against Israeli and Jewish sites and possible targets linked to the Iranian intelligence service".

The pair are accused of "gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets", when they "knew or ought to have known their conduct was likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service".

Shahsavani, a father-of-two of North Finchley, north London, is a dual Iranian and British national and has lived in the UK since 2009.

Farasati, of Colindale, north west London, who is a trained barber, is an Iranian national and moved to the UK as a 17-year-old in 2021.