GB
1997
1hr 44mins
Dir: Nick Willing
Starring: Toby Stephens and Frances Barber
A photographer investigates pictures of fairies taken by two young girls
This intelligent and rather touching fantasy is based on Steve Szilagyi’s 1992 novel of the same title, which in turn is based on the Cottingley Fairy stories of the 1920s. It was made at the same time as Fairytale A True Story (qv) but is the better of the two in the opinion of the author. It features a good scene filmed on the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway with Toby Stephens alighting from a train at the ground level Bledlow Bridge Halt. This is unusual because the halt closed with the Watlington branch in 1957 and even though the branch has reopened as a heritage operation, the ground level nature of Bledlow Bridge precluded its reopening. The ‘platform’ is still extant and was tidied up for the production. The train meanwhile consists of Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No.8 Sir Robert Peel and three Mk.2 coaches. The loco was built in 1952 and the Mk2 coaches didn’t start to appear until 1964 so although this is not exactly a train representative of the 1920s the whole scene is unusual, despite these inaccuracies, in being quite different from the normal heritage scenes. There is a good overall shot of the halt later on, complete with nameboard and luggage piled on the platform.
