Queen knights Gladiator director

Scott said he was 'humbled'

Oscar-winning film director and producer Sir Ridley Scott has received his knighthood from the Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The man behind Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator was honoured for his services to the British film industry.

The 65-year-old said he was "stunned and truly humbled" to have been named a sir in the New Year's honours list.

"As a boy growing up in South Shields, I could never have imagined that I would receive such a special recognition," he said.

Sir Ridley Scott rose to fame with the 1979 film Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver, marking him out as a sci-fi film visionary.

Scott said: "I've just been re-editing Alien for re-issue later this year.

"We are digitally expanding it. I hadn't seen it for 15 years and it is still good - the original script was extremely dynamic."

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Andreas Whittam Smith left the BBFC in July 2002

But Scott did not limit himself to one genre and it was the road movie Thelma and Louise, with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, which was nominated for his first best director Oscar in 1992.

He returned to the Academy Awards in 2001 with his movie Gladiator.

Although the film won five awards, including best film and best actor for Russell Crowe, Sir Ridley himself was beaten to the Oscar by Steven Soderbergh for Traffic.

He was again nominated for best director for the war film Black Hawk Down in 2002.

Sir Ridley is also a major shareholder and co-chairman of Pinewood-Shepperton Holdings Limited which owns Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios.

Poet Jo Shapcott, who became the first person to win the National Poetry Competition twice, received a CBE for her services to literature, while TV chef Rick Stein collected an OBE.

Andreas Whittam Smith, the former president of the British Board of Film Classification and co-founder of The Independent newspaper, received a CBE.

Whittam Smith was head of the BBFC for nearly five years where he was responsible for vetting film and video releases, before leaving to take up a post overseeing the management of Church of England investments in July 2002.