A London weekly newspaper is to star in a forthcoming independent film which features an editor investigating a murder cover-up.

The Docklands and East London Advertiser will feature in Shogun Films’ horror movie Doctor Plague, with lifelike copies of the paper created for the film by Newsquest lead designer Nancy Fallows.

Set to be released latest this year, the story follows London detective John Verney, played by Martin Kemp, as he hunts down a serial killer dressed as a plague doctor.

The killer is wreaking havoc in the London underworld, and Verney is drawn into a conspiracy involving an ancient murderous cult.

Former Minder star Gary Webster, who plays newspaper editor Eddie Crawford, is pictured above with the mocked-up front page and co-star Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott, who plays journalist Francesca..

Eddie is convinced there is a cover-up of the murders and is determined to uncover the truth and break the story of the century.

Shogun Films’ founder Jonathan Sothcott said: “I’m very grateful to Toby Granville and our friends at Newsquest for letting us use their East London Advertiser brand and providing real newspapers… something you don’t see often in indie films!

“A key theme of Doctor Plague is the importance of real journalists and traditional print media in an age of fake news so it was important to make this work.”

The film was shot on location in London and East Sussex, as well as at Guildford Studios in Surrey and will be released by Trinity Creative Partnership later in 2025.