US / GB
1996
1hr 35mins
Dir: Christopher Hampton
Starring: Bob Hoskins and Patricia Arquette
In Victorian London, a double agent becomes involved in a terrorist plot
This period drama features sequences filmed on two preserved railways. ‘Maze Hill’ station is in fact Wansford on the Nene Valley Railway and appears in two scenes with Bob Hoskins. In the first, there is a shot from onboard what maybe one of the line’s Norwegian carriages followed by a scene on the platform with a freight train passing in the background. The image is blurred and although not entirely clear it would appear to be hauled by a small industrial tank engine, possibly Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No.1539 Derek Crouch. No trains feature in the second scene at Wansford but there is a better shot of the platform and station building. Towards the end of the film is a scene whereby Patricia Arquette and Gérard Depardieu flee London for the coast and this was filmed on the Great Central Railway at Loughborough Central station. The initial establishing shot used some amount of CGI as the station has been given an overall roof (!) and the train formed of vintage carriages is hauled by ex-L&YR Aspinall Class 27 0-6-0 No.52322, though little of the locomotive is actually seen. The film was adapted from Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel of the same name.
