Standing on set at Bletchley Park and watching Benedict Cumberbatch play his famous great uncle Alan Turing was a “weird” experience for St Albans student James Turing.

He got a part in The Imitation Game, which tells the story of the battle to break the Nazis’ Enigma code, by chance after applying to be an extra. The 23-year-old only appears for a few seconds in a bar scene, but got to talk to the Sherlock actor about Alan’s legacy.

"I was on set with him and got to have a two and half hour chat about all sorts of things. He seriously knew his stuff about Alan and found some piece of research that said Alan had injured his leg in the last few days of his life and he was going to put that in the film- but it didn't make it in the end.

"To be honest I think he knew more about Alan than me."

James never met his famous relative as Alan killed himself in 1954, two years after being chemically castrated as a punishment for being gay.

“It was very strange seeing Benedict pretend to be Alan right in front of my eyes,” adds the former Beechwood Park School pupil who is now a director of The Turing Trust, alongside studying for his masters.

"He is a fantastic actor and his performance reminded me a bit of my brother, which was weird, and seeing that is the closest thing I will get to meeting Alan so it’s great that I did it.

"The guys who did the film did a screening for the family in October so we got a sneak preview and thought it was fantastic. Obviously they have Hollywood-ised it up a bit but I would watch it even if I wasn't a Turing."

The Imitation Game is in cinemas from November 14.