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''God's Wonderful Railway'' is a British children's drama television series made by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
. It was first shown in eight 30-minute episodes, from 6 February 1980. The cast includes
Gorden Kaye
Gordon Irving Kaye(7 April 194123 January 2017), known professionally as Gorden Kaye, was an English actor, best known for playing womanising café owner René Artois in the television comedy series Allo 'Allo!''.
Early life
Kaye was born o ...
,
June Brown
June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the '' ...
,
Gerard Kelly
Gerard Kelly (born Paul Kelly; 27 May 1959 – 28 October 2010) was a Scottish actor who appeared in many comedies, including '' City Lights'', ''Rab C Nesbitt'', '' Scotch and Wry'' and '' Extras''. He had more serious roles as well, includ ...
,
Richard Pearson and
Terry Molloy
Terry Molloy (born 4 January 1947) is an English actor. He is known predominantly for his work on radio and television, especially his portrayal of Davros, creator of the Daleks, in the BBC television science fiction series '' Doctor Who''.
C ...
.
Plot
The series focuses on three generations of the Grant family working on an unnamed
Great Western Railway branch line. The first section, entitled ''Permanent Way'', depicts the construction of the line in the
reign of Queen Victoria, the second, entitled ''Clear Ahead'', shows the line in operation in
Edwardian times, and the third, ''Fire on the Line'', is set during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
Since the series was made for children, each part of the story focuses on events from the perspective of then younger members of the Grant family. The same characters reappear as adults as the story progresses, but in incidental roles.
"God's Wonderful Railway" was a nickname for the pre-nationalisation
Great Western Railway.
Production
The series was written by Avril Rowlands with episodes directed by
Fiona Cumming
Fiona Cumming (9 October 1937 – 1 January 2015) was a Scottish television director, noted for her work on the BBC television series, '' Doctor Who'', during the show's Fifth Doctor era.
Her credits included the 1982 episode, '' Castrovalva'' ...
and John Prowse.
The location filming was done on and around the
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
. A reference is made to the area in the music for the opening and closing credits: a version of the first movement of
Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's ''
The Severn Suite'' arranged for
brass band by David Lyon.
Other media
The series remains available on DVD, as a download on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, and in excerpts on YouTube.
The scripts were adapted into a series of three juvenile fiction books.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:God's Wonderful Railway
1980 British television series debuts
1980s British children's television series
British children's drama television series
BBC television dramas
Television series about rail transport