A FORMER Time Lord will film scenes at the University of York next week.

David Tennant is starring as R.D. Laing in Mad To Be Normal, a biopic about the controversial figure associated with the anti-psychiatry movement during the 1960s.

Around 200 students and staff will play extras, as Tennant joins Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss and The Usual Suspects actor Gabriel Byrne on set.

Laing was known as the Acid Marxist and attempted to create a safe haven for schizophrenics.

His pioneering treatment took place at the controversial 1960s residential treatment centre Kingsley Hall, in London's East End, where there were no locks on the doors and he advocated the use of LSD for medical treatment.

Speaking at the time the role was announced, Tennant, who played the tenth incarnation of Doctor Who between 2005 and 2010, said: "I have long been fascinated by the life and work of R.D. Laing.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and discover this important man and I am honoured and thrilled to be involved in telling this story."

Filming will take place over for two days in February and will see parts of some campus buildings re-designed to look like a 1960s lecture theatre.

Robert Mullan, the film's writer and director, added: "In the late 1960s, and throughout the 1970s, RD Laing was seen as the ‘high priest of anti-psychiatry’ and the so-called ‘Acid Marxist’ – lauded by his supporters for his daring and experimental work with disturbed people.

"In truth, Laing simply tried harder than other psychiatrists to sympathetically understand the cracked minds of the people who came to see him.

"He gave them time and tried to see the world from their point of view. His books sold all over the world and his reputation was global."

Filming is expected to be completed in March, and Mad to Be Normal will be released later this year.