Clarke: 'I wrote '4.3.2.1.' in a month'

Noel Clarke apparently wrote 4.3.2.1. in less than a month after being criticised for his portrayal of female characters.

The Dr Who star said he was pulled up on the issue after his 2006 film Kidulthood, in which the lead characters were male.

In an interview with The Observer, he said: "I was called in to a meeting and told that I didn't write women very well. I was very annoyed. If you're pulling me in to tell me how to improve on the film's flaws, OK.

"But just telling me I didn't write women very well? Great, thanks. I was so angry that I went home and wrote the script for 4.3.2.1. in a month."

Clarke said he would name and shame his detractor if he could remember who it was.

"This guy told me that no girl he'd ever met behaved at all like the women in Kidulthood. I said, "You probably don't know many girls then."

He added he sees the career of director Kevin Smith, who plays a small part in the film, as inspirational.

"He couldn't get in [to the industry], so he made Clerks by himself. I couldn't get in, but by hook or by crook I made it," he said.