SECRET FRIENDS

GB
1991
1hr 37mins
Dir: Dennis Potter
Starring: Alan Bates and Gina Bellman

An illustrator’s life starts to unravel when fantasy and reality begin to collide during a train journey

This psychosexual fantasy drama is based on Dennis Potter’s 1986 novel Ticket to Ride. Probably for ease of production, the entire train journey is filmed in a very convincing studio mock-up of a Mk3 coach and no real trains feature. However, so as to give the sensation of actually moving, back-projection through the windows show that some shots were filmed from a window of a train on the Western Region main line. Recognisable locations viewed in these shots include Foxhall Junction, Didcot, and the River Thames between Pangbourne and Tilehurst.

Ian McNeice and Davyd Harries sit as passengers in the hugely convincing studio-bound Mark 3
The businessmen are dining along with Alan Bates, in this further shot added for completeness
This is Foxhall Junction, just to the west of Didcot Parkway. The now demolished cooling towers of the decommissioned Didcot Power Station are visible through the trees.
This is the River Thames between Pangbourne and Tilehurst complete with rowers out for some early morning exercise!