AS the great-grandson of the famous Lord of the Rings author, Royd Tolkien is familiar with fantasy.

But he never imagined he would one day take a flight to New Zealand, dressed as Gandalf the imperious wizard from JRR Tolkien’s best-selling trilogy.

Royd Tolkien, 47, whose great-grandfather, an Oxford professor, died when he was four, has been acting out the bucket list fantasies of his brother Mike.

Mike, suffering motor neurone disease, died aged 39 in 2015 after being diagnosed in 2012.

Before he died he compiled a bucket list of 50 amazing activities for his brother to complete on his behalf.

Royd was happy to honour his brother’s wishes and a 90-minute documentary capturing his repeated humiliations has now been made.

Entitled There’s A Hole in my Bucket the film is scheduled for release at the end of the year.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail from New Zealand, Mr Tolkien said: “It was Mike’s idea to make the documentary and I knew whatever was on the list I would do.

“The list included things Mike wanted to do and places he wanted to visit in New Zealand and he wanted to make me look a bit of an idiot at the same time.

“I took the flight from Heathrow dressed in the Gandalf costume used in Peter Jackson’s movies.

“At first passengers thought I was Dumbledore from Harry Potter - I also had to take 39 selfies with passengers - one for each year Mike was alive.”

Father-of-one Mr Tolkien said the flight from Heathrow to New Zealand was an emotional one.

After arriving on the plane a message from his brother was read out.

“A woman read out a message from Mike thanking me for all I had done for him - it cut me up and broke me down,” said Mr Tolkien.

“It was funny but it was also tinged with sadness because it was the first time he had spoken to me for two years and I found myself going to places I thought I had bottled away.”

The film, financed by Sky Limit Films and Schubert International Films, has been directed by Rob Cavanah and could become a TV series.

As well as showing Mr Tolkien completing the tasks, it also charts his grief as he faces the memory of losing his brother.

A trailer for the documentary shows footage of Mr Tolkien helping his brother to breathe when his muscles became too weak.

He added: “Mike’s illness connected us even closer than we were before.

“After he was diagnosed every morning I gave him a huge hug and told him I loved him.

“The film is not just about raising awareness of motor neurone disease - my advice to people is ‘do your bucket list now, don’t wait.”

Mr Tolkien said he has been a frequent visitor to Oxford.

He added: “We have been visiting my great-aunt Priscilla in Summertown since I was tiny.

“I have also been to Oxonmoot, the annual festival which is organised by the Tolkien Society.”