PRESS FOR TIME

GB
1966
1hr 42mins
Dir: Robert Asher
Starring: Norman Wisdom and Frances White

A London newspaper seller is sent by his grandfather to a seaside town as a journalist

This was the last Rank-made Norman Wisdom comedy, and it features a number of memorable railway scenes in which Norman Wisdom hitches a ride on the rear bufferbeam of a Class 117 DMU! This is a scene repeated at the very end, only this time Norman has been joined by his girlfriend Liz, played by Frances White. These scenes were filmed at West Drayton station and the start of the Staines West branch. Interestingly, the seaside town depicted in the film is Teignmouth, though its station does not appear. West Drayton station masquerades as ‘Tinmouth’, the pronunciation of the Devon resort town’s name! There is also a scene at West Drayton of Norman Wisdom arriving in the wagon of a short freight hauled by Class 08 diesel shunter No.D3762 and there is a particularly good close up shot of the locomotive coming to a stand. Near the start of the film there is a shot of the entrance to Kilburn Park Underground station rather unnecessarily standing in for ‘Westminster’.

This isn’t Westminster station, but Kilburn Park. Note the amended sign with its slightly wonky and somewhat off-centred ‘STER’.
The camera pans down to confirm the location. Norman Wisdom selling newspapers outside Kilburn Park, though again the newspaper stand states ‘Westminster’.
West Drayton station with its mock ‘Tinmouth’ station sign
Norman’s train arrives formed of a Class 117 DMU, a number of which appear in the railway sequences
Norman Wisdom on the rear bufferbeam of the departing train, filmed probably at the start of the Staines West branch
This is a rarity. A Class 08 diesel shunter on a short freight. This particularly good shot shows D3762 arriving into West Drayton.
An external view of a neat and tidy West Drayton station, which for a near 80 year period was called West Drayton and Yiewsley
Frances White and Norman Wisdom run after their train….
……and having caught up with it, they hitch a ride on the back, where they have a buffer each!!