LET HIM HAVE IT

GB
1991
1hr 55mins
Dir: Peter Medak
Starring: Christopher Eccleston and Paul Reynolds

The real-life story of Derek Bentley, executed for a crime committed by another

This shockingly realistic portrayal of the Derek Bentley case features an atmospheric railway scene filmed on the East Lancashire Railway, close to Bury Castlecroft engine sheds. BR Standard Class 4MT 2-6-0 No.76079 passes with a train and 4MT 4-6-0 No.75078 can be seen ‘on shed’. There are plenty of maroon-liveried BR Mk.1’s visible with Restaurant Miniature Buffet No.1837 prominent. The later scenes depicting period ‘Southern Railway’ signage for East Croydon station were in fact filmed in New Brighton, Merseyside.

Christopher Eccleston on the tracks near Bury Castlecroft on the East Lancashire Railway
BR Standard 4MT 2-6-0 No.76079 leaves Bury Bolton Street station in this fine shot looking through the 80-yard long Bury EL Tunnel.
For good measure we get a shot of Bury Castlecroft shed. The train was hauled by a 4MT 2-6-0. The loco simmering away on shed is its larger brethren, 4MT 4-6-0 No.75078.