1
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:12,759
'We were not
The Railway Children to begin with.

2
00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,439
I don't suppose
we ever thought about railways

3
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,319
except as a means
of getting to the theatre and zoo.

4
00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:21,919
We were just ordinary
suburban children

5
00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,359
and we lived with Father and Mother

6
00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:26,799
in an ordinary,
red-brick-fronted villa,

7
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,679
with coloured glass
in the front door.'

8
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,919
Ah, come on.

9
00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,839
Few films linger in the memory
like The Railway Children.

10
00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,159
Adapted from the book by legendary
children's author E Nesbit,

11
00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:41,279
it is a cinematic rite of passage.

12
00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,319
I think The Railway Children
contains so many of the seeds

13
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,119
of the mainstream
family film that we see today

14
00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,919
that have been so acclaimed
because it asks the grown-ups

15
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,639
to consider the point of view
of the children.

16
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,239
It asks the really,
kind of beautiful questions about

17
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,599
what it would mean
if we all looked at things

18
00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:02,959
through the eyes of children
who simply wanted to do

19
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,519
the courageous thing,
to do the right thing,

20
00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,319
to speak the truth.

21
00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,239
There's no question about it,
it's a bona fide classic film.

22
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,039
But it's more to do with
an attitude and...

23
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,639
a way of life
and a way of living.

24
00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:23,599
And I think that what
this captures is an ideal.

25
00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,999
A social ideal
which should be still with us.

26
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,999
And isn't there
something sort of poetic,

27
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,039
and certainly from
a child's point of view,

28
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,119
about...
they have to do it themselves?

29
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,919
Children have to be
the agents of change.

30
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,559
They have to save the trains,
they have to bring their father back.

31
00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,599
And that's so extraordinary
when you watch that as a child,

32
00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,199
you think,
"I need to be more like this.

33
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,359
This is... I've got to embrace life
in this way."

34
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,839
I mean, that's the thing,
when you're playing as a child,

35
00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,279
you create those worlds
where anything is possible.

36
00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,359
And this film says to you,

37
00:01:57,360 --> 00:01:59,359
"Well, for these children
it all was possible,

38
00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,439
and you could perform
magical wonders."

39
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:06,719
Released in 1970, and directed
by the comic actor, Lionel Jeffries,

40
00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:11,799
the beauty of the film lies
in its simplicity, even its realism.

41
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,359
There is no magic
in The Railway Children,

42
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:15,959
but it is spellbinding.

43
00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:58,439
♪ Should auld acquaintance be forgot

44
00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,399
♪ And never brought to mind?

45
00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,839
♪ We'll give a thought
of kindness yet

46
00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,560
♪ For the days of auld lang syne ♪

47
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,479
'You are now
peering through a London fog.

48
00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,359
This is how the British metropolis
looked in the good old days.'

49
00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,599
'London in 1902 was the
busiest city in the world.

50
00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,799
The traffic was so heavy
and the hub-bub so great

51
00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:44,759
that you couldn't hear
an itch scrap.

52
00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,399
And here are some of His Majesty's
subjects rubbernecking.

53
00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,319
They're all headed for
the Royal Palace.

54
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,519
God Save the King.'

55
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,479
The year is 1905 and when
their father is wrongly arrested

56
00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,599
for selling government secrets,

57
00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,999
the three Waterbury children
must relocate at haste

58
00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,119
from middle-class London
to a cottage in West Yorkshire.

59
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,879
Played by Jenny Agutter,
Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren,

60
00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,959
the resourceful Waterburys
have a startling effect

61
00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:14,639
on the village of Oakworth.

62
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,559
Just as they will be transformed
by the community that embraces them,

63
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,199
and the railway line
that runs by their new home.

64
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,639
They will learn that there is
goodness in the world

65
00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,639
and the possibility of hope

66
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,599
in the unlikely shape of the old man
who waves from a railway carriage.

67
00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,679
E Nesbit at her time,
was considered to be

68
00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,119
one of the eminent
children's authors

69
00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,199
and would later be
a huge influence

70
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,639
on many of
the big children's authors

71
00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,799
of the 20th century,
like CS Lewis.

72
00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,079
She liked to tell
sort of children's adventure stories

73
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,399
whether they were grounded in
reality like The Railway Children,

74
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:52,919
or a little bit more
on the fantastical side.

75
00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,479
But she's widely considered to be
the kind of progenitor

76
00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,680
of the children's adventure
story plot

77
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,079
and one which could, you know,

78
00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,559
often have some
adult themes mixed in.

79
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,199
Happy Christmas.

80
00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,079
I love you.

81
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,879
'You'll think that we ought
to have been very happy,

82
00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,719
and we were,
but we did not know how happy

83
00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,079
till the pretty life at Edgecombe
Villa was over and done with

84
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,879
and we had to live
a very different life indeed.'

85
00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,399
Thank you, sir.
Peter, my boy, come here.

86
00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,479
Ahhh!

87
00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,640
Ohhhh!

88
00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:40,199
The book was written in 1906
and it's about a family,

89
00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,359
quite well off, who live
in the outskirts of London

90
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,479
in a lovely house, three children,

91
00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,639
and they are suddenly plunged
into a crisis

92
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,439
when the father is taken away
on a trumped-up charge.

93
00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,479
Nesbit was a radical voice
in her own way,

94
00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,919
a writer who believed in a fairer,
more idealistic way of life

95
00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,119
than the constrictions
of late-Victorian society.

96
00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,079
This is a story about family,

97
00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:09,999
class, charity,

98
00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,079
and the potential of community.

99
00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,759
How would you describe the style of
storytelling of author Edith Nesbit?

100
00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,319
Well, she developed
something of a trope.

101
00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,399
So, a lot of her books
are about a group of children

102
00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,279
who... start the book
having a wonderful life

103
00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:29,599
and then the father, usually,
either dies or is arrested,

104
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,479
or his business partner
absconds with all their funds.

105
00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,559
Something dramatic happens
to the father

106
00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,439
and that tips the family
into hardship

107
00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:38,999
and movement to another place.

108
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,959
And in the other place they
encounter something, the children,

109
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,559
who are normally
not looked after by their mother

110
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,639
who is either ill,
or busy writing books or something.

111
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,279
She has to do something
to sort of keep them going.

112
00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:52,799
They go off and play in the wild
and they encounter something.

113
00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,799
It could be something magical
like in Five Children and It,

114
00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,199
where they encounter this sand fairy
called the Psammead,

115
00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,839
who leads them on a series
of magical adventures,

116
00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:03,279
or in the case of
The Railway Children, a railway.

117
00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,959
And they...
they are changed by this themselves,

118
00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:11,479
but also the way they interact
with the magical creature

119
00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:17,519
or the world around them, helps them
return the family back to... habits.

120
00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,519
And normally...
unless the father is dead,

121
00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,839
normally there is some kind of
stability restored

122
00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:24,519
and they get back
to where they were.

123
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,959
And this really reflects
the author's own life.

124
00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,599
I mean, her father died
when she was three-and-a-half.

125
00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,079
It knocked the whole family
off-kilter.

126
00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,839
They lost the beautiful agricultural
college they were living in.

127
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,279
Then her sister became ill
and the family travelled Europe

128
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,719
looking for
healthy beach resorts and stuff.

129
00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,039
So she, in a way,
she's always looking for the father

130
00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,279
that she lost herself at that time.

131
00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,839
And a lot of her stories
echo that kind of

132
00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,039
group of children going wild,
travelling about,

133
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,999
that really, really was her...
her childhood experience.

134
00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,800
'We had a father
who was just perfect.'

135
00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,679
In the book, it is in Kent.

136
00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,919
In fact, in the film,
they actually go to Yorkshire,

137
00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,759
where they, to pass the time,
the children pass the time

138
00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:23,439
standing by a fence overlooking
a railway and waving to the trains.

139
00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,719
As a result of this, they develop

140
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,879
all kinds
of sort of friendships

141
00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,879
and they have various adventures
which follow through to the book

142
00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:34,639
right to the end.

143
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,879
A lot of people have said that
E Nesbit's style of storytelling

144
00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,079
is strikingly modern.

145
00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,079
The Railway Children
was written in 1905 as a series

146
00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,399
of sort of periodic articles
in a magazine at the time.

147
00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,959
And she was very kind of interested

148
00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,600
in presenting children as...

149
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,879
...in some ways, capable of things
that adults often aren't.

150
00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,559
They have a certain clear-mindedness
and clarity of vision

151
00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,199
and courage that grown-ups don't.

152
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:05,839
And I think
that's something that we see

153
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,599
in loads of mainstream films now,
and books,

154
00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,119
but we didn't see as much
as early as she was writing this.

155
00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,319
Shot on location in Yorkshire,

156
00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,959
The Railway Children
is now an institution

157
00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,839
with a treasure trove of images
that have become memories

158
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,719
and characters we know like friends.

159
00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:42,800
All right, cabby, Scotland Yard.

160
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,039
We're going to have to play
at being poor for a while.

161
00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,359
We're moving to
a darling little house

162
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:04,999
in the country up in Yorkshire.

163
00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,919
What?
I know you'll love it.

164
00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,239
Is Aunt Emma coming?

165
00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,520
No, Peter, unfortunately not.

166
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:18,839
Don't you want first class, madam?

167
00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,519
- No, second, thank you.
- Look like
first class quality to me.

168
00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,519
Are we on the right train
- to Yorkshire?
- Yes.

169
00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:36,079
Edith Nesbit was a remarkable woman
and a troubled soul.

170
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,559
She lost her father at a young age
and was unhappily married.

171
00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,479
Family, she sensed,
was what you made it.

172
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:45,959
Co-founder
of the Socialist Fabian Movement,

173
00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,759
she wrote over 16 novels filled
with her unconventional spirit.

174
00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,119
Here was a modern idiom
for the children's book.

175
00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:59,679
that influenced everyone from CS
Lewis to Enid Blyton, to JK Rowling.

176
00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:02,679
Edith Nesbit was not only a writer,

177
00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,199
but she was also
a political radical.

178
00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:10,399
She was a socialist
and so a great many of her books,

179
00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:12,679
even the fantasies
and the children's books,

180
00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:16,440
contain radical ideas about society.

181
00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,839
She was a founding member
of the Fabian Society,

182
00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,799
with George Bernard Shaw,
and William Morris,

183
00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,479
and she moved
in those sort of circles.

184
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,799
As a result, she was also...
had a fantastic imagination.

185
00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:32,719
And so when she needed to write
to earn money

186
00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,799
owing to her own
personal circumstances,

187
00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:40,479
she was able to apply
not only various ideas

188
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,799
into children's literature,
but to fantasy, ghost stories,

189
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,919
horror, and adult novels as well.

190
00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,999
All of these have
at some stage within them,

191
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,879
elements of her political ideas,
her socialist ideas.

192
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,599
What's fascinating about
The Railway Children

193
00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,359
is that these ideas are very coded.

194
00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:08,559
They... On the surface it looks
like a very sweet children's book,

195
00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:12,079
and it looks like a very sweet
children's film about a family.

196
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,319
So E Nesbit was friends,

197
00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,279
or at least acquainted with a few
different Russian revolutionaries

198
00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,759
sort of
pre-Russian Revolution period,

199
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,079
and were, you know,
had clearly struggled and suffered

200
00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:25,599
for their political views.

201
00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,879
Meanwhile the Dreyfus Affair
was something which was

202
00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,599
internationally known as, you know,

203
00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,159
someone who has been accused
of treason wrongly,

204
00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,599
and it was
an anti-Semitic situation.

205
00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,319
And I think all of these things
sort of lend something to...

206
00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,639
a few different things
about The Railway Children.

207
00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,199
But she is very interested
in the idea of characters who are

208
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:50,159
victimised or removed from
their families and their lives

209
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,120
because of their progressive views

210
00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:55,599
or because they've been
wrongly accused of something.

211
00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,319
And, of course, that's the story of
the father in The Railway Children.

212
00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,919
You mentioned Nesbit's
kind of background, but by 1905

213
00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,799
when the book was first published in
serial form, was she a literary star?

214
00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,799
Was she a best-selling author?
Absolutely.

215
00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:11,599
She was hugely successful.

216
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:12,999
I mean, I think that we...

217
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,479
She doesn't necessarily survive

218
00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,079
quite in the way that she ought

219
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,479
as really the inventor of modern

220
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,599
children's adventure stories.

221
00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,159
The authors themselves
always tip their hats to her.

222
00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,039
JK Rowling recognises that
Harry Potter would not exist

223
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,159
if it wasn't for E Nesbit.

224
00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,159
CS Lewis, he would put some of
her characters in his book.

225
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,279
All of the... All of the people
who wrote children's stories

226
00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,799
from then on were incredibly aware
they were in her shadow.

227
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,879
Because prior to that,
there had been these sort of

228
00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,919
slightly fantastical, slightly fey,
slightly coy, children's stories.

229
00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,639
She was the first person
to write books

230
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,119
where she took the children's
perspective seriously.

231
00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,199
The children were the agents,
they were active.

232
00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,199
They were sensible, they did what
they - or not sensible accordingly.

233
00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,679
But the books were told from
the children's point of view

234
00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:00,999
and they were functioning
real human beings.

235
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,839
They weren't crazy characters.

236
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,239
So, the idea of taking children
from the real world

237
00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,319
and putting them into an
unusual situation begins with her.

238
00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,719
First published
in serialised form in 1905,

239
00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,479
The Railway Children
is Nesbit's best-known story.

240
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,759
There had already been versions
on radio and television,

241
00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,759
in 1951, 1957,

242
00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:27,759
and in 1968 a BBC serial
had also starred Jenny Agutter.

243
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:33,519
Unlike Nesbit's usual approach, there
was no magical device or creature.

244
00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:38,319
This book sits squarely in the
real-world tradition of Black Beauty,

245
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,399
The Secret Garden,
or Swallows And Amazons.

246
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,599
I think it's... it's very
apparent that most of the...

247
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:50,639
or all of the adaptations before the
1970 film, were serial adaptations.

248
00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,479
They were a radio or TV series,
and that kind of matched,

249
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,479
or mapped more directly
onto the kind of periodic way

250
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,239
that the story
was originally written.

251
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,119
So really the filmmakers had
a challenge when trying to create

252
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:08,959
a film for the big screen in kind
of stitching those things together.

253
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,679
And as a result, I think,
it does work quite well

254
00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:13,279
because it gives the film a kind of,

255
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,159
I don't know,
it gives it some space almost.

256
00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,519
There's a kind of languidness
to it that's nice.

257
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:21,479
Like it feels like kids kind of
exploring and playing and learning,

258
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:23,799
rather than it being
very tightly plotted.

259
00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:25,519
But there is definitely a sense

260
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,799
that there's just these various
little adventures

261
00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,559
that these kids have
with the same set of characters

262
00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:32,039
in a revolving door kind of way.

263
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:36,799
Right away, Mr Mainprice.

264
00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,039
Mother should be on the next train
in about 15 minutes.

265
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,879
That one was from London, I think.

266
00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,239
Hey, there's something going on
at the end of the station.

267
00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:45,919
Yes, something's happened. Come on!

268
00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,719
She uses a great deal of
what was happening around her

269
00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,319
as part of the influence
of the book.

270
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:57,799
For example, the Russian refugee
who lands at the station, Oakworth,

271
00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:02,359
and sort of falls over, is clearly
inspired by one of her friends,

272
00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:07,439
who was a Russian refugee
called Stepniak

273
00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,519
as well as another man in the
same position called Kropotkin,

274
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,359
and these men
were Russian dissidents

275
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,959
who were fleeing the Tsarist regime.

276
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,079
Also I think here
was the Dreyfus Affair,

277
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,519
which had been all over the news at
the time when she was writing this

278
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:29,159
about the wrongful conviction
of a French Army officer

279
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,639
who happened to be Jewish,
which created an enormous stir

280
00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:36,079
and actually incredible
social division in France

281
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:37,879
and, in fact, across Europe.

282
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,719
So all of these things, and she was
very much aware of these,

283
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,279
being a political
and politicised woman.

284
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,879
She drew on these as inspiration

285
00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,239
for aspects of... events

286
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:51,919
that happen in The Railway Children,

287
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,239
all of which
are knitted together perfectly.

288
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,199
But, as you mentioned,
The Railway Children

289
00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,879
is slightly different, isn't it?
Because there's no...

290
00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,119
as far as I can tell,
there's no actual magic in it.

291
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,479
I mean, The Railway Children
doesn't have actual magic.

292
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,639
I think there is
a character in The Railway Children,

293
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:11,679
who could be seen as
the external "magical character",

294
00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,639
who is the old gentleman
at the back of the train,

295
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,239
who has a sort of a...
a very strange, angelic role.

296
00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,999
He comes in and out
of their lives as needed

297
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:21,599
and gives them impossible things.

298
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,639
But he is absolutely not magical,
he's the director of the railway.

299
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,799
So... But The Railway Children
is very, very real.

300
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,479
They are reduced to penury

301
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,119
by their father being arrested
for selling secrets.

302
00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:36,439
He works in the Foreign Office,
and they are so out of money

303
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:38,399
that they have to move
from London to Yorkshire.

304
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,519
Something which I think people in
Yorkshire find slightly resentful.

305
00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,759
"Oh, they're so poor,
they have to move to Yorkshire?"

306
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,159
But they move to this
small village in Yorkshire,

307
00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,159
where they, if you like,

308
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,519
the adventures are all encompassed
by the railway train.

309
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,079
The railway line,
the railway station, these machines,

310
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:54,879
this very industrial form of magic.

311
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,799
Jovial British star, Lionel Jeffries,

312
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,239
is most famous for bringing
his eccentric persona to films

313
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,919
such as First Men in the Moon,
and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

314
00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:09,279
Bereft of reading material while
voyaging from America to England,

315
00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:11,999
he borrowed The Railway Children
from his daughter.

316
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,559
He was so moved, he personally
bought the rights for £300.

317
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,319
Backed by Bryan Forbes at EMI Films,

318
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,239
Jeffries was determined
to rekindle a quiet romance

319
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,239
missing in the cinema
of the early '70s.

320
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,319
Lionel Jeffries is a really
interesting figure in British cinema

321
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,839
and in the industry.
He was an actor, in the main.

322
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,959
Generally a comic actor. He has,
kind of had a little bald head

323
00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,679
and a kind of friendly,
little comic demeanour to him,

324
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:44,479
but not without a certain
curmudgeonly-ness, I think, as well.

325
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,319
Probably most well known
for being the grandpa

326
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,559
in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
from 1968.

327
00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:51,999
But he was a man
who in his personal life

328
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:53,959
and his sort of professional life,

329
00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:58,119
was a little bit nonplussed
by the changing social mores

330
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:00,199
of the '60s and '70s,

331
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,239
and he was really keen to...
make things both as an actor

332
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,319
and then as a director,
with The Railway Children,

333
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:12,079
which was his debut,
that were kind of family-friendly.

334
00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,639
That weren't into the sex, drugs and
violence of that kind of hippy era.

335
00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,239
That were kind of doing something

336
00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,319
for both children
and for their parents.

337
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,479
He was really famous
because he always played characters

338
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,399
older than himself,
simply because he was bald

339
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,799
and he had a sort of
an attitude of someone older.

340
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,959
He had been in
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

341
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:34,279
He was in I'm All Right Jack.
He had done First Men in the Moon,

342
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:38,399
and he was very well liked
as an actor.

343
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,399
It was, in fact,
on his way back from America,

344
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,999
having filmed
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,

345
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,199
that he first discovered
the book The Railway Children.

346
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,399
He then wrote a script himself
on spec,

347
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,399
and took it to Bryan Forbes,

348
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,679
who had then had
a film deal with EMI.

349
00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:00,319
Forbes was looking for scripts
for family films.

350
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:05,839
This was at a period when the
family films were not so frequent.

351
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:08,599
There had been
a few in the early '60s,

352
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:09,879
but now there was a drop,

353
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:12,759
and he felt that there was
a gap in the market.

354
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,119
He really liked the idea
of The Railway Children.

355
00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:17,599
He loved Lionel Jeffries,

356
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,279
and Forbes suggested to Jeffries
that he actually direct it.

357
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:26,159
If you like, he was very interested
by the concept of an idyllic,

358
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,959
idealised childhood
and he wanted to create that,

359
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,799
particularly... he said at the time
in British cinema

360
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:38,279
there was this move towards the
kind of angry, working-class films,

361
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,839
you know, this sort of
new edge to filmmaking

362
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,119
that Britain was adopting,
the new wave.

363
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:44,479
And he wanted to try to,

364
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,119
you know, pay tribute
or to recreate something that he-

365
00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:48,919
He called it a quiet romance.
Yes.

366
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,519
Yeah, something which was gentle

367
00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,599
and something which was open
to all the family.

368
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,599
And so that was what
he set out to do.

369
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,559
He wanted to be faithful
to the book,

370
00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,479
so... almost all of the events
that happen in the book

371
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,959
happen in the film, but he...

372
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,279
he has a...
a rose-tinted lens to some degree.

373
00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,039
There are harsher scenes
in the book.

374
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:09,719
There's harsher portrayals
of poverty,

375
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,319
harsher portrayals of some
of the troubles that the kids face.

376
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,159
And he slightly fades those out
in favour of...

377
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,159
beautiful,
beautiful views of countryside.

378
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,359
The heart of the film
is the struggling family

379
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,799
led by Dinah Sheridan's singular,
if elusive mother.

380
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,879
We never learn her name
beyond Mrs Waterbury.

381
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,839
Wounded, but capable,
and noticeably a writer,

382
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,639
she is obviously a cipher for Nesbit.

383
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,799
Nesbit famously ran a Bohemian house
and her screen counterpart

384
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,879
takes in a collection
of waifs and strays.

385
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,519
The Three Chimneys cottage
of the story

386
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,159
is named after
the author's unusual home.

387
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,119
I told Mrs Viney
to get some meat and bread

388
00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,239
and have some supper ready.

389
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,439
I wonder where? Ooh, I suppose
she's laid it in the dining room.

390
00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,040
Come along, darlings.
Up here, let's go and see.

391
00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,640
Come along.

392
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,639
I wonder why Daddy hasn't written
- to us?
- Mummy says he's too busy.

393
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,479
He'll write soon she says.
Well, why don't we wave anyway?

394
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,519
Three waves won't matter.
We won't miss them!

395
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,439
The story is told through the eyes
of Jenny Agutter's Roberta.

396
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,799
Known as Bobbie,
this is her rite of passage.

397
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,719
A young teen propelled
into the seriousness of adulthood.

398
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,999
As is well known, the young actors
were older than their characters.

399
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,199
Agutter never offers
a second's doubt,

400
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,399
mixing vulnerability and strength.

401
00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:00,479
So Jenny Agutter was actually
in the 1968 BBC television

402
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,559
adaptation of The Railway Children,

403
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,599
and then goes on in 1970
to play the part again.

404
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,839
So she is very well versed
in the book and the source material,

405
00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:11,959
and in playing this character.

406
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,399
It's interesting
because she, you know,

407
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,159
her energy as an actress
is really adaptable and she made

408
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,359
so many interesting films and had
so many varied parts in her career.

409
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:23,599
This is one
when she's only 17 years old,

410
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,399
though she's playing younger again.

411
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,999
So she is a little bit old for the
part by the time the film comes out.

412
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,879
But she brings to that
the right combination for Bobbie,

413
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,519
because Bobbie is both
fundamentally innocent,

414
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,560
but also has a kind of
precociousness and an awareness,

415
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:43,679
and she's pretty quick
to figure things out.

416
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,359
And when she talks with her mother,
she is the first one to work out

417
00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:48,159
what's actually happened
with her father.

418
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,079
And she's sort of the leader
of the children

419
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:51,959
as naturally as the oldest child.

420
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,359
And so Jenny Agutter,
being that little bit older,

421
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:57,999
I think she... she gives, like,
that kind of wisdom almost.

422
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,039
No actor is more synonymous with The
Railway Children than Jenny Agutter.

423
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,599
She was in a previous version,
she was in future versions.

424
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,839
What makes her so central
to the character of Bobbie?

425
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,879
I mean, I think at this
particular point in her career,

426
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,239
Jenny Agutter is 17 years old.

427
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:15,999
She has a face which, at rest,

428
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,879
can appear younger.

429
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,399
So... But what she is able to do
as a result is show the transition

430
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,359
from child to adulthood
convincingly,

431
00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:26,679
which is quite hard to do.

432
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,079
You have to be a particular
kind of... just to look right.

433
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,439
To be able to be someone
who is young but responsible.

434
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,279
So, first of all,
she is able to do that.

435
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,319
She has a very open-eyed innocence.

436
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,759
She has a very strong sense
of powerful emotions

437
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:43,359
beneath the surface,

438
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:48,639
so you feel that she is wrestling
a lot with something very intense.

439
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,479
Now it's mainly
the loss of her father.

440
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,359
It's hard to play those things

441
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:55,879
without a particular depth
as a performer,

442
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,639
particularly as a young performer,
to convey that convincingly.

443
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,999
The idea that a child would faint
because of the intensity
of the situation.

444
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,799
So she's got this ability...

445
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,679
in a very simple acting style,

446
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,279
to convey very, very intense emotion
with very, very little.

447
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,399
She absolutely does not ham it up,

448
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:15,719
which for a teenage actor is quite
often one of the great perils.

449
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,079
'That's me, I'm Roberta.

450
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,679
They call me Bobbie,
sometimes lanky.

451
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,439
I'm the eldest, worst luck.'
Now, good.

452
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,519
'That's Phyllis, who means well.'
Yes, good, good.

453
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:32,719
Now, my boy.'And that's Peter,
who wants to be an engineer.'

454
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,839
And don't forget
to watch the dicky bird.

455
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,799
At 20, Sally Thomsett
was older than Agutter,

456
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,999
even though she plays Bobbie's
younger sister Phyllis.

457
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,479
Thomsett has the timing
of a natural comedian.

458
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,479
The sprightly Gary Warren
plays the youngest, Peter,

459
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,679
who is behind the more mischievous
of the children's enterprises.

460
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:55,799
They are anything but goody-goodies.

461
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,679
It is very interesting
that her younger sister,

462
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,319
who is supposed to be 11, I believe,

463
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,599
was played by
the 20-year-old Sally Thomsett.

464
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,239
This seems to beggar belief really.

465
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:08,999
And I think
it's just about camouflaged

466
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:10,559
within the film well enough.

467
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,079
Like there are enough other things
going on and she's not

468
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,719
in so central of a role that you're
constantly thinking about it.

469
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,799
And by all accounts, the actress
was also asked not to ever be seen

470
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,919
smoking or drinking
while she was filming,

471
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,359
because it just would shatter
the illusion too much,

472
00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:26,799
of her being a child.

473
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:31,599
But it is a... it is
an unusual choice, I would say.

474
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,759
The locals come to love
the pluck of the Waterburys,

475
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,999
none more so
than station porter Albert Perks.

476
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,119
Jeffries had earmarked
the role for himself,

477
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:45,599
but Bernard Cribbins
offered such sweet comic realism,

478
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,599
much of it ad-libbed,
there was no other choice.

479
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:53,799
He is a wonderful character,
capturing both the kindness

480
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,599
and complex pride of a Northern man.

481
00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,479
Excuse me, young man, I've got a lot
to do cos the station master's
having his hair cut in Leeds,

482
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,199
so Perks must be about it.
Perks? Who's Perks?

483
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,199
Me, sir, I'm Perks.

484
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,839
It's the casting of this film
that makes it...

485
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,239
puts it on another level.

486
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,879
Because Lionel Jeffries
was an actor,

487
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,279
he knew the kind of people
he wanted.

488
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,239
Dinah Sheridan as the mother,

489
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,799
who, of course,
made a big splash in Genevieve,

490
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:30,799
hadn't... In fact,
had sort of more or less

491
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,839
gone into semi-retirement,
he persuaded her to play the mother.

492
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,719
He had Iain Cuthbertson
as the father.

493
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,599
Beyond that, he had
the wonderful Bernard Cribbins

494
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,199
as Perks, the stationmaster.

495
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,839
All around them, if you look,

496
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,679
and it's very interesting to see
even in the smaller roles,

497
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,639
there are people
who are just fabulous.

498
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,719
Perks's wife, for example,
Mrs Perks,

499
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,879
who has one scene more or less,
or a couple of scenes,

500
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:01,919
is absolutely adorable.

501
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,199
We have the carter
who brings them to...

502
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,959
up to the cottage in
the middle of the night, who is...

503
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,559
he looks like something out of
a Hammer Horror film, you know.

504
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,879
He looks like sort of
Michael Ripper or something

505
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,239
with his sort of one eye.

506
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,239
And in a way,
he's absolutely perfect for that.

507
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,759
The doctor
is another great character.

508
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,359
The doctor who lives
in this wonderful house.

509
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,559
In fact,
it's where the Brontes lived.

510
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,919
He is a character
who is called upon frequently

511
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,079
to minister to anybody
who is sick or ill.

512
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:39,599
And yet there is a history to him
that he has to convey in maybe a...

513
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,399
a one line, when Jenny Agutter

514
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:45,519
as Bobbie, Roberta,

515
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,199
says to him,
"I've never seen a man cry."

516
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,079
And he says, "Haven't you?
I cry all the time."

517
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,879
That's all you know
about his background,

518
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,879
but as you've seen him
first of all lying on the ground,

519
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,079
in this sort of churchyard,
which is in front of the house,

520
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,999
drinking out of a bottle, you know

521
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,959
that somewhere there is a real
history behind that character.

522
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,239
All of these are like little touches
and they bring something,

523
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,119
they bring a depth
of characterisation

524
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,719
to even the smallest character.

525
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:20,639
Jeffries was so smitten with
Oakworth Station in West Yorkshire,

526
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,839
that he kept the name for the film,

527
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,399
helping to boost tourism
for years to come.

528
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,399
Bathed in the magical
spring sunshine of 1970,

529
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,799
the contrast with London is vital.

530
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:37,079
The understanding that the
downturn in the family circumstances

531
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:39,879
might result in a better life.

532
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,279
'In 1925,
the London North Eastern Railway,

533
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:52,279
the first to run a passenger train,
celebrated its 100th anniversary

534
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,960
by parading some of the old engines
before British royalty.

535
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:04,999
While they lasted,
the steam engines

536
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,959
helped to transform Europe
and shape America.'

537
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,680
Oakworth Station! Oakworth!

538
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:47,119
Oakworth.

539
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,879
The four magnificent
Victorian locomotives

540
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:55,039
provided by the Keighley and Worth
Valley Railway, were unwieldy props.

541
00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,479
Resetting a steam train
is no easy business.

542
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,999
Eye lines were often achieved using
a runner waving a white handkerchief.

543
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:08,519
As well as a delivery service for
plot, the trains represent so much.

544
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:12,719
Steam becomes a metaphor
for unseen forces.

545
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,240
The tracks a link
both to the past and to the future.

546
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,999
Now let's talk about trains,
because they are central -

547
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,079
it's called The Railway Children.

548
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,879
What do they mean in terms of them?
What do they represent in the film?

549
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,399
I mean, the trains are...

550
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,039
have a very, very big job to do

551
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,519
because they represent a series
of different metaphors, if you like.

552
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:38,879
So, at the very beginning,

553
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,719
it's the breaking of the train

554
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:42,319
that begins the crisis.

555
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,439
The toy train breaks
and that is the moment

556
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,679
that everything turns upside down.

557
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,719
Then the train takes them

558
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,319
to their exile, if you like,
in the Yorkshire village,

559
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,919
but it also then starts
to provide the adventure.

560
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,839
It becomes the train
that passes through their station

561
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,559
and they feel that it's going
to where their father is.

562
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,879
So they...
The reason they wave to the train,

563
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:05,879
the reason they begin
to engage with the train,

564
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,239
is because they feel
that by imbuing the train

565
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,239
with their good wishes
for their father,

566
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:13,519
their good wishes will travel
to where their father is.

567
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,279
This is where magic comes in because
that's the point where they...

568
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:17,679
they wave to the old man, isn't it?

569
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,519
Yes, because they are waving to the
train to give love to their father

570
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,799
and that's... It's like
they can conjure the old man up.

571
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,039
Yes. Almost as if, yeah, absolutely,
as a magical father figure.

572
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,359
But then the train is also...

573
00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:32,119
Gradually as it goes on,
they become more perilous.

574
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,519
The landslide is not peril for the
children, it's peril for the train.

575
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,439
But the children
hurl themselves into danger

576
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,079
by standing on the tracks
with these red petticoats.

577
00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:43,759
And then there is this race.

578
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,279
This paper chase through the tunnel

579
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,119
where a boy falls
and breaks his leg.

580
00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:50,239
At that point, the train is
a dragon-style monster.

581
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,359
And it's one of the most memorable
scenes from childhood cinema.

582
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,639
The boy with the broken leg
- on the rail.
- Yeah.

583
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:58,800
Just getting it off as the train...
...as the train thunders past.

584
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,399
Like the pivotal 9.15
calling at stations,

585
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,079
the story is consciously episodic.

586
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:12,919
Nesbit's tale
has the ring of Dickens.

587
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:17,759
The injustice meted out
on the innocent and trials overcome

588
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:20,319
before the restoration of fortune.

589
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,159
The story is
an odyssey of adventures:

590
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,599
the eccentric locals,
the tunnel, the landslide.

591
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,239
The injured runner dragging
his broken leg from the rail,

592
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:35,079
and the beneficent old gentleman
played by William Mervyn,

593
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:36,720
who will be an agent of hope.

594
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,760
Charming. Charming.

595
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,319
There we are.
Thank you, madam.

596
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,960
Yes, thank you.
Quick as you can, please.

597
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:01,599
Oakworth Station!

598
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,079
Right away, Mr Cryer.
Thank you, Mr Perks.

599
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,679
The famous ending
is certainly sentimental,

600
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,399
but the film has earned its tears.

601
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:28,319
It was a tricky scene to create.
The steam had to part like a curtain

602
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,519
to reveal Iain Cuthbertson

603
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,719
as the returning father,
followed by Agutter's heartfelt cry.

604
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:39,079
There is a winning theatricality
within Jeffries' direction.

605
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,599
Is there any other film that finishes
with the principal cast

606
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,439
waving the audience goodbye?

607
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,599
Obviously, it is an episodic film,
but essentially what drives the story

608
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,359
is... how will they reclaim
their father?

609
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,079
How will he return
and the family be restored?

610
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,839
And the way that Nesbit writes it
and certainly Jeffries directs it,

611
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:00,479
it's kind of a miracle, isn't it?
Yes.

612
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,240
And the miracle figure,
the character, the angel from...

613
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,079
...of fate if you like,
or the person who will save them

614
00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,239
is the old gentleman on the train,
who has remarkable powers.

615
00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:14,559
Starts off very simple. He buys them
a hamper when they need it.

616
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:16,719
But then when they ask him
to search for the family

617
00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:20,079
of the Russian refugee,
he manages to find them.

618
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:24,079
And then Bobbie asks him
if he could perhaps find her father.

619
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,519
And he says, "Well, yes,
to be honest, I have always thought

620
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:28,839
it was
a slightly dubious conviction.

621
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:30,959
I'll see
if I can get him out of jail."

622
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,399
I think probably the most memorable
moment in The Railway Children

623
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,239
has got to be that ending.

624
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:37,759
And if you think about the history

625
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,719
of great scenes
in train stations in film,

626
00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:43,919
this has got to be kind of
one of them, of many great ones.

627
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:45,799
But when she kind of goes,
"Oh, Daddy,"

628
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,599
and like he emerges from the steam
almost like a ghost,

629
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:52,759
and you know that...
not only has she been right

630
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,919
and justified in proclaiming
his innocence this whole time,

631
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,799
but they are actually reunited
and he has been exonerated.

632
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,160
It's one of the great happy endings
of, you know, any family film.

633
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,359
Daddy! My daddy!

634
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,079
And it's sort of seeped
into the consciousness of everyone,

635
00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,719
in the same way as, you know,
"Play it again, Sam."

636
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:30,999
It's just somehow become one of
those wonderful moments in film.

637
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,719
And it's led up to beautifully.

638
00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:37,359
Most of this film is done
in very short bursts.

639
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:39,199
The scenes are quite short.

640
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,159
This one is...
He takes his time over.

641
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,879
Exactly as Jeffries predicted,
there was a huge appetite

642
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:49,999
for a more traditional form
of storytelling in 1970.

643
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,199
The Railway Children
might have lost out at the BAFTAs

644
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:57,159
to Ken Loach's more modern take
on childhood, Kes,

645
00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,799
but it was Jeffries' film
that became firmly established

646
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,080
as a holiday tradition on television.

647
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,199
It is amusing to note
that it wasn't until 2013

648
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,079
that the BBFC received a complaint

649
00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:14,359
that the film encouraged children
to walk on railway tracks.

650
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,959
So The Railway Children
was released around Christmastime

651
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,959
when it came out and it pretty much
immediately recouped its costs.

652
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,839
It was a success.

653
00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:26,759
I think it came out at a time
where audiences had been seeing

654
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:31,239
both on the news and in their lives,
a lot of tumultuous stuff.

655
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:36,439
You know, economically, socially,
a lot was going on in the world

656
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:38,439
and in England in 1970.

657
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:41,559
And so seeing this film
which is quite nostalgic,

658
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,399
audiences do like the comfort,
I think,

659
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,279
of seeing this kind of
slightly more old-fashioned

660
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:49,999
traditional world view,
for better or for worse.

661
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:51,879
And there are, of course,
elements in the film

662
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:55,439
that are far more... prickly
and left-wing as well,

663
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:57,319
so it does contain that too.

664
00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,279
But I think audiences generally
felt very comforted by the film

665
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,039
and I think that's part of the key
to its success over the years.

666
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:08,479
There's something extraordinarily
quietly brave about this movie,

667
00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:12,799
and the reason
that I say that is because of...

668
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,840
how many different agendas it holds.

669
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,239
It isn't a film that you can
sort of watch and think,

670
00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:23,039
"That was a charming film
about a family who didn't exist

671
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,839
and you know, got on with life
in spite of the fact...

672
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,999
"Well, because they were quite
wealthy, and it all ended happily."

673
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:31,999
That's not the case.

674
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:37,919
The case is that, first of all,
a family film, a true family film,

675
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:40,839
which means that a film
that can be enjoyed by children

676
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,679
and their parents together
at the same time,

677
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,439
was quite rare at that period.

678
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,999
There weren't many around,
which is one of the reasons why

679
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,679
Bryan Forbes
was very keen to make it

680
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,799
and why Lionel Jeffries
took this on board,

681
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:58,199
because he wanted to go
and see films like this

682
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:01,439
with his own family, his own kids,
and there weren't any around.

683
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:03,559
They had the cartoons, you know,

684
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:08,079
but most of them had been stopped
round about the early '60s.

685
00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:10,279
So we're talking about
the late '60s, '70.

686
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,359
So he wanted to fill that gap.

687
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:14,599
These films, and this
happened a lot around this time,

688
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:17,799
there is a little bit of a
generation gap in the film industry

689
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,479
and a little bit of a cultural clash

690
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,599
because things are changing
around this time.

691
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,199
Social and sexual mores are
changing, attitudes around politics,

692
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:28,079
respectability,
all of these things are going on.

693
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,439
And so you have these different
factions of the film industry.

694
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,999
And I think films are capable
of being revolutionary or radical

695
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,079
or influential
in a lot of different ways.

696
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,799
So the fact of Kes
being nominated for a BAFTA

697
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:41,839
the same year
as The Railway Children,

698
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:45,199
I think you could pose it as,
"Well, this one film is radical

699
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,439
and you know, socially realist
and bleak and political,

700
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:52,559
and The Railway Children is
quite a sentimental family film."

701
00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:54,399
That's not really
a good characterisation.

702
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,719
I think The Railway Children
is hugely influential in that it

703
00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:03,599
presented adult themes about loss,
about family building,

704
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,440
about parenting, about community,

705
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:08,719
within a children's film.

706
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,559
There are political undercurrents
in Nesbit's writing

707
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,519
that Jeffries allows
to flow into the film.

708
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,959
Among its themes,
the film celebrates the power

709
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:20,559
of socialism to overcome injustice.

710
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:24,439
It's not polemical, that's the other
great thing about Nesbit's work.

711
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,719
Political she was,
but polemical she wasn't.

712
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,439
Nesbit was creating,
there's no question about it.

713
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,399
She was embroidering
and embellishing

714
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:38,719
a reality to create an idyll.

715
00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:41,519
A sort of socialist fantasy.

716
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,919
But it was so rooted in reality,

717
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:48,919
so rooted in real people,
real problems,

718
00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:52,479
that... you never once doubt

719
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,239
that these people are doing

720
00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:57,679
what they are saying
they're doing on the screen.

721
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:03,079
And I think that that as an idea,
as a sort of, a little ambition,

722
00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:05,439
social ambition to aim at,

723
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,239
in terms of how you
behave to other people,

724
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:14,039
how you conduct yourself in society,
whatever society it is.

725
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:17,759
And how you... have, you know...

726
00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,639
You are generous to those
who have nothing and whatever,

727
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:25,479
without being patronising,
I think is vitally important.

728
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:31,119
The fact is that it's
non-exclusionary within the story

729
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,359
and outside of it,

730
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:35,399
which is why it is so incredible.

731
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:38,519
Which is why families still today,

732
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,959
if they do sit around and watch
films together or go to the cinema,

733
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:46,119
each of them
will find something in it.

734
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,079
How do you think
The Railway Children, in a way,

735
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,839
sort of ennobles the concept
of a family film,

736
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,439
as something so much more
than just a film for children?

737
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:57,319
Because I think
it's a film for adults.

738
00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,439
It's a film that treats
children seriously

739
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:04,199
and for adults it's a reminder
of something incredibly precious.

740
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,479
I think it's because
of the depth of storytelling

741
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,039
that Nesbit puts into it.

742
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:10,999
It's because of the themes
and the ideas

743
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:12,799
and the motifs that she introduces.

744
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,399
It's because she sets it up
to be a story

745
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,839
which talks about the injustice
of the Dreyfus Affair,

746
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:21,479
about the need
for comforting the refugee.

747
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:25,559
And about the sort of...
the magic of this theme,

748
00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:28,639
which draws all of that together,
in this case a railway.

749
00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:32,119
She writes a very, very deep,

750
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:34,359
rich set of stories,

751
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:36,159
and therefore it stands up, I think.

752
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:38,079
And that's why it's...

753
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:39,759
it's not like those stories
which is,

754
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,559
well, at the end of the day
if a family all pull together...

755
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:44,839
It's not about that.
It's about all the discoveries

756
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:48,439
and the learnings that we as an
audience make as well as the kids.

757
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:50,479
They're dealing with
very serious themes.

758
00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:53,399
They're very, you know,
epic and historical themes.

759
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:57,639
But because the film is quite light
in the way it jumps across them,

760
00:42:57,640 --> 00:42:59,279
it's very... accessible to children.

761
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,919
It's accessible to discuss
the Dreyfus Affair with children

762
00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:04,719
if you say, "Someone's daddy
was sent to jail unfairly,"

763
00:43:04,720 --> 00:43:06,319
and you get it.

764
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:08,359
So that's why, I think,
it has this great power,

765
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:11,999
because she doesn't shy away
from enormous stories.

766
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:13,679
She just tells them
in a very light way.

767
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:17,079
This film endures because
it treats children as adults

768
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:19,799
and reminds adults of childhood.

769
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,199
Agutter was established as a star.

770
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,919
Thomsett became a regular
of British sitcoms,

771
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:28,239
while Warren departed acting
for the rag trade.

772
00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:30,879
But they remain forever young.

773
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:34,119
They will always be
The Railway Children.

774
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,840
Subtitles by Sky Access Services
www.skyaccessibility.sky