Difference between revisions of "God's Wonderful Railway"

Revision as of 17:22, 30 January 2015

God's Wonderful Railway was a BBC children's drama series first broadcast in 1980. Written by Avril Rowlands, it was set specifically on the Severn Valley Railway and filmed almost entirely on location on the railway.

Description

The series was divided into three stories, set in different time periods in the history of the railway, through the eyes of a fictional railway family. In each story the main protagonist is a boy in his early to mid teens, who then reappears as an adult in the following story. The first story is set during the construction of the line, and its main character is Robbie Grant, a boy who has been brought to the valley because his father is working on the railway as a navvy. In the second story, set in the Edwardian era, the now-elderly Robbie is the signalman at Highley, and his grandson George is about to start work as a porter at the station. In the final story, set in 1939, George is Station Master at Arley; his son Andy has to deal with an evacuee from Birmingham billeted with the family, and becomes suspicious that a spy is trying to destroy Borle Viaduct.

Novelisations of the three stories were published in separate volumes:

• Permanent Way
• Clear Ahead
• Fire On The Line

See also

List of film and TV productions filmed on the Severn Valley Railway