IT started off as an excuse for two best mates to catch up through lockdown.

But 44 episodes and more than 10,000 listens later, 'Dads on Film' has taken on a life of its own.

The podcast was launched by Warrington's Dave Gash and his friend Greg Smith during the pandemic to help the film lovers fill time and miss the cinema a little less while they were stuck at home.

Dave and Greg have been best friends since meeting on a beach in Spain as teenagers.

They both went to university in Sheffield where they formed the band called Arkham Karvers.

Some years later, they are now dads in their early 30s and have swapped gigging for discussing their love of film.

Now in its second series, Dads on Film has picked up a following and they have welcomed guests such as My Beautiful Laundrette lead Gordon Warnecke and New York cinematographer Eric Branco.

Dave, whose dream guests would be Simon Pegg and Christopher Nolan, said: "We're really thrilled and surprised with how well the podcast is going. At first, we thought it would be a fun little thing to do over the first lockdown, that our friends and family might tune in to, but it's taken off more than we could have imagined.

Dads on Film

Dads on Film

"This is definitely one of our silver linings of life during lockdown. Greg and I are best friends but ultimately life gets in the way sometimes, especially with Greg living in Buxton and me in Warrington so it's been harder to see each other and catch up as much as we would like to.

"So when Greg first mentioned about wanting to start a podcast, it was a great opportunity to do something with our passion for film but really it was a great chance to see my best friend – albeit remotely – every week.

"Another silver lining though has to be the birth of my son Zachary a month ago. It came at a really great time as our podcast listeners have been following the pregnancy which has been a really fun experience."

The lockdown has helped the pair grow an audience in a way because people have been stuck in front of the TV for months.

Dave added: "I think it's given people the opportunity to watch things that they may not have had the time to watch before. I watched all of the Marvel films within the first two weeks of lockdown and have watched countless box-sets.

"We've also made a feature in the show where we set each other homework of films we think they should watch and it's been really eye-opening."

Dave and Greg, who both love The Dark Knight and Shaun of The Dead, say they have 'no plans to slow down' when life gets back to normal and their next goal is to work towards a live show.