Chicken and gravy spies

RYAN Fletcher is making the leap from River City to Gotham City after landing a role in a Batman spin-off.

The actor, best known for playing busker Vader in the BBC Scotland soap, will star as Wallace “Dave Boy” MacDuff in Pennyworth – the early story of Batman’s butler Alfred.

Ryan’s character is a world-weary, alcoholic Scottish soldier who finds redemption as an unlikely crimebuster.

His critically acclaimed performance in the global hit play The Black Watch is believed to have put him in pole position for landing the part.

He will appear alongside pop singer Paloma Faith, who plays arch-baddie Bet Sykes, with Jack Bannon, of The Imitation Game, in the title role as the young Alfred Pennyworth.

The role is a massive coup for Ryan as the series could run for years and lead to other big Hollywood parts.

A source told the Record: “Shooting for the first 10-episode series started at Warner Brothers studios in London this week and this is a real arrival in the big time for Ryan.

“He has been knocking on the door for parts of this scale for a while now but his brilliant performances in The Black Watch possibly swung the balance in his favour against top-class competition for the role.

“That part was all about the pressures that come to bear on soldiers. Ryan didn’t have to try too hard to get into the part, so he was a natural for it.

“The Pennyworth role could run for years if it is the success that Warner Brothers reckon it will be.”

Ryan, who was born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, this week posted a picture on Twitter of his seat on the set.

Pennyworth, set in 60s London, will be screened in the UK next year. SPOOKS at the Government spy HQ will be among the upper crust when they get their own Greggs bakery.

Staff are said to be “over the moon” about the deal.

The heavily guarded site in Cheltenham already has two Costas, a Starbucks and a 600-seater restaurant.