THE SYSTEM

GB
1964
1hr 33mins
Dir: Michael Winner
Starring: Oliver Reed and Barbara Ferris

In a seaside village, a group of local young men mingle among the seasonal tourists in search of sexual conquests

This drama features some excellent railway scenes during the opening credits, depicting a railway journey in the West Country. Although this is ‘all at sea’ for continuity, it is very interesting none the less and includes a couple of real rarities. First, some young men join the train at Churston station on the Kingswear branch, which arrives as a Class 118/119 DMU combination and then departs as a Class 120 DMU, the latter being particularly rare for a feature film. As the train continues there are some very good shots of green-liveried ‘Warship’ diesel-hydraulics passing the beach at Dawlish. Finally, the journey ends at Brixham station, terminus of the short branch from Churston, and there is an exceedingly rare view of a disc-headcode fitted Class 22 diesel-hydraulic arriving with a train. These scenes were filmed during 1964 and Brixham station had already closed, having been removed from the national network in May 1963. The station was specially spruced up for filming and was renamed ‘Roxham’. Churston station, incidentally, survived until 1972 when it was purchased from British Rail and it now forms part of the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway. The railway sequence in this film also includes shots onboard Mk1 coaching stock.

This delightful stone structure is the Dartmouth Road bridge just to the north of Churston station. Part of the Brixham bay platform is just creeping into the very bottom right hand corner of the shot.
This is the forecourt of Churston station, with the aforementioned Dartmouth Road bridge in the background. A formation of Class 118/119 DMU’s is arriving into the platform.
This shot on the platform gives us a good glimpse of the signal box and proves beyond all doubt that the train in the platform is a Class 120 DMU, as evidenced by the DMSL vehicle No.50668.
“Oh, be still my beating heart”! A green ‘Warship’ takes its train past Boat Cove, Dawlish, as ‘Grockles’ take in the sun.
In this similar shot closer to Dawlish station we get closer to another green ‘Warship’
Another green ‘Warship’-hauled holiday express forms the centrepiece of this most English of holiday scenes. This is 1964, a time when the railway’s ran proper trains, people wanted proper holidays, and the sun always seemed to shine.
The ‘Warships’ may have been nice but this is something else entirely. A very rare glimpse of a Class 22 as it arrives into Brixham station, temporarily ‘reopened’ for filming and renamed ‘Roxham’ in the process.
David Hemmings walks out of Brixham station. It may look quite tidy here, but soon it would be completely removed from the landscape. Holiday homes and garages now occupy the site.