HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

GB / US
2004
2hrs 22mins
Dir: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson

Harry Potter learns that an escaped murderer is coming after him

The third Harry Potter movie features more shots filmed on the West Highland line and Glenfinnan Viaduct with No.5972, but all is not quite what it seems. Unfortunately, filming was disrupted after No.5972 started a number of lineside fires amongst the dry vegetation so the scenes that appear in the film actually depict a night journey in torrential rain, with the train ‘held’ on Glenfinnan Viaduct for one very scary scene. As in the other films there are shots taken at King’s Cross station, with maroon Mk1s and GNER Mk4s present, but No.5972 is not visible. One scene follows that shows the trio of young wizards onboard the train and through the carriage window a station with NSE signboard passes by, probably somewhere on the ECML. Just as interesting if only for the fact that it is different to the usual Harry Potter fare, is a scene earlier in the film that shows Harry’s lodgings close to a railway line in Borough, South London. This was filmed adjacent to Borough Market and a Connex-liveried Class 423 4 VEP EMU is passing by in one shot, crossing the bridge over Stoney Street on the line between Metropolitan and Borough Market Junctions.

Harry Potter looks on as a Class 423 4 VEP passes his Borough Market flat. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry expresses to Dumbledore his love of trains. One wonders if this is how it all began!!
A departure scene from King’s Cross is all one really sees of the station in this film.
One must not forget that a lot of genuine footage takes place inside the compartments of the Mk.1 coaching stock in most of the films within the series. Here the train leaves King’s Cross with a GNER Mk.4 set visible through the window.
As Daniel Radcliffe takes his seat a station passes by outside. This is all genuine, using a real train with real outside views, and not a set with back-projection. The Network SouthEast station nameboard is glimpsed next to Radcliffe’s shoulder, all a blur. The distinctive building behind may help identify the location though, possibly somewhere on the ECML
And a split second later white platform fencing passes by with tower blocks visible through the trees.
The ‘Hogwarts Express’ passes the shores of a loch somewhere on the West Highland line. The rain is likely to be a computer generated effect.
The train stopped on Glenfinnan Viaduct in the rain