THE BLACK PANTHER

Image result for The Black Panther 1977

GB
1977
1hr 42mins
Dir: Ian Merrick
Starring: Donald Sumpter and Debbie Farrington

A post office robber kidnaps a teenage heiress to use as ransom

This crime thriller was based on the Donald Neilson case, an ex-soldier turned armed robber who kidnaps a teenage heiress. Some scenes in the film show that the kidnapped girl was kept in a drain in Bathpool Park, close to the new Harecastle Tunnel (310 yards), in the Kidsgrove area of Staffordshire, and there are shots of two trains. One is a distant view of a train, possibly a London Midland Region EMU, and the other is a mineral train, unfortunately edited so that the locomotive is just passing out of shot. By pausing the scene, however, it is possible to make out from the two roof fans that it is a Class 47. Later in the film there is an exterior shot of Chalk Farm Underground station. The film was very controversial on its release and was slandered by the media and as a consequence the film was effectively banned from viewing. In 2012, it was remastered and resurrected by the BFI to rave reviews and it has emerged as a ‘meticulous, tactful, well made and highly responsible true crime movie’. Which it is.

In this establishing shot a train disappears off into the distance. It is possibly a London Midland Region AC EMU. It may come as a surprise, but the line here is electrified on the overhead 25kV system despite the apparent lack of overhead wires! Incredible as though it may be, they appear to have blended completely into their surroundings!!
As Donald Sumpter passes over the southern portal of Harecastle Tunnel, a Class 47-hauled mineral train enters beneath. One can tell its a 47 by the two roof fans above the cab. If you look really carefully you can just make out the overhead wires above the train.
The overhead electrification is much more obvious in this shot of the lines in the Harecastle/Kidsgrove area.
This is the southern portal of Harecastle Tunnel. This shot has been included as it proves that the line is electrified. We can see the catenary mast quite clearly, but again, little evidence of the wires themselves.
The entrance to Chalk Farm Underground station on the Northern Line