SOMERS TOWN

GB
2008
1hr 11mins
Dir: Shane Meadows
Starring: Thomas Turgoose and Kate Dickie

A young boy runs away to London where he meets an unlikely new friend, only for them both to end up falling for the same girl

This comedy drama is an unusual black-and-white study of a social environment in London not often seen by many. It is also unusual in that it was funded by Eurostar, as the story is set in the neighbourhood of the company’s London terminal at St Pancras, which was just coming to the end of an £800 million re-build. Applying for Eurostar funding had been conceived by the Mother Advertising agency and though the initial idea had been to make a short film, it developed into a full feature-length script. Somers Town is a district in north-west London that has been strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston (1838), St Pancras (1868) and King’s Cross (1852), together with the Midland Railway Somers Town Goods Depot (1887) next to St Pancras, where the British Library now stands. There are some shots of trains in this film, starting with some HST sets at Leicester station (though the suggestion in the film is that Turgoose is from Nottingham). He is then seen onboard an HST before he arrives at St Pancras, and one of the power cars visible in the platforms is No.43047. There is also a semi-distant shot of a Silverlink Class 313 dual-voltage EMU passing through the North London landscape, and some good shots of the ‘railway end’ of St Pancras station itself. What is surprising for a film funded by Eurostar is that none of the company’s trains actually feature, save for a very brief shot of Turgoose asleep in one at the end. No doubt this was a deliberate act to avoid any form of commercial advertising.

Thomas Turgoose on the platform at Leicester with a Midland Mainline HST set on the right
An arrival scene at St Pancras station with an HST set left and right. The Midland Mainline power car on the right is No.43047.
The redeveloped St Pancras International station forms the backdrop to this shot, as viewed from Phoenix Court. The low, flat roof on the left is the new extension over the Midland Main Line platforms whilst the train shed roof of the old station rises up behind. The clock tower of the grand facade on St Pancras Road stands tall on the right. It is very common to see the latter part of the station, but the view of the ‘railway end’ shown here is so much rarer.
A Silverlink Class 313 EMU passes through the landscape, but can you see it?
This cropped image of that above shows the cab of the Class 313 a lot more clearly
The final three minutes of the film take on the form of a holiday video, shot in colour using a hand-held camera. The entrance to the ‘new’ St Pancras International is briefly seen.