Christopher Walken painted over an original piece of Banksy artwork in the final episode of BBC comedy The Outlaws.
The episode, which was released on BBC iPlayer on Wednesday, saw his character Frank paint over the drawing of a rat on a wall.
The show and scene were filmed in Banksy’s home city of Bristol and the enigmatic street artist agreed to the scene.
A spokesperson for the BBC comedy confirmed in a statement: “We can confirm that the artwork at the end of The Outlaws was an original Banksy and that Christopher Walken painted over that artwork during the filming of this scene, ultimately destroying it.”
The series, which was created by series star and Extras writer Stephen Merchant, follows a diverse and conflicting group of characters who are serving community service sentences alongside each other.
The final episode saw Walken’s Frank uncover the piece of Banksy artwork and then ask his supervisor if he should paint over it.
Ordering him to paint over all graffiti while failing to see it was a Banksy piece, Frank painted over it.
The scene comes after a shredded piece of Banksy artwork sold for £18.5 million at auction last month.
Love Is in the Bin was the remains of the artist’s previous piece Girl with Red Balloon, which was sold for £1m in 2018.
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The Outlaws also stars Rhianne Barreto, Darren Boyd, Gamba Cole, Poldark actress Eleanor Tomlinson, Jessica Gunning, Clare Perkins, Aiyana Goodfellow, Derry Girls’ Ian McElhinney, EastEnders alum and Strictly Come Dancing 2021 star Nina Wadia, and Dolly Wells.
The Outlaws is available now in-full on BBC iPlayer but continues on Mondays at 9pm on BBC One.
Before you head off to watch the scene of The Outlaws, take a look at more of our Drama coverage, or check out our TV Guide to find out what’s on telly tonight.