Sir Ian McKellen: My Sherlock Holmes never wears a deerstalker and prefers a cigar

There have been many versions of Sherlock Holmes but the latest film stars Sir Ian McKellen as the sleuth in his nineties.

Mr Holmes, directed by Bill Condon and also starring Laura Linney, sees Sir Ian play a Sherlock Holmes at the age of 93 who has retired to the south coast and showing signs of losing his memory.

Speaking to ITV News, Sir Ian said: "My Sherlock Holmes never wore a deerstalker and much preferred a cigar and didn't actually live at 221 Baker Street."

Speaking about playing a person who is losing his memory, Sir Ian said: "Nobody warns you about old age. The signs have been around you all your life.

"You've known old people, you know your grandparents and others, and you see them decline and you see them die and you think 'Oh yes that's what happens to them' and then your friends fall by the way side and that really brings it home and how do you cope with that.

"In my case with gratitude that I have all my faculties and determination to keep working as long I've got them because I enjoy it so much."

Mr Holmes opens in UK cinemas on 19 June.

ITV News correspondent Nina Nannar reports: