GB / US
1995
2hrs 08mins
Dir: Peter Chelsom
Starring: Lee Evans and Oliver Platt
A failed American comedian goes to Blackpool and discovers his half-brother
This hard to find comedy was largely set in Blackpool, yet rather curiously there are no shots of the trams whatsoever, though there is a good aerial view of Blackpool North station. Instead, there is a most unusual sequence of a rendezvous taking place in a railway coach, an old GWR Hawksworth-type being used as living accommodation, which was filmed at the Didcot Railway Centre. Though the exact identity of the coach is not known, the opening shot gives a good view of three other vehicles. Unique WR Six-wheel ‘Beetle’ Cattle Van No. DW150420 (built in 1952), another unique vehicle in the form of the GWR ‘Rotank’ milk flat wagon built in 1947, plus 1955-built BR Mk.1 Corridor Composite No.15577 (in chocolate & cream livery but with NSE branding) in use as a dormitory coach, but scrapped in December 1998 due to its asbestos content.