TREE OF HANDS

GB
1989
1hr 29mins
Dir: Giles Foster
Starring: Helen Shaver and Peter Firth

After a single mother loses her son to illness, her psycotic mother decides to kidnap a young boy as a replacement

This psychological drama is based on the 1984 novel The Tree of Hands by Ruth Rendell and features several scenes that were filmed adjacent to the ECML on the approach to King’s Cross, parallel to Citizen Road, N7. Several class 317s and HSTs are seen, the former in either BR blue and grey or NSE livery, and the latter in executive grey and yellow. The film was released in the US under the title Innocent Victim.

This is Citizen Road in Holloway and an NSE-liveried Class 317 runs along the viaduct carrying the East Coast main line. To give an idea of the location, the train is heading north towards Finsbury Park whilst Arsenal FC’s new stadium has now been constructed on the opposite side of the line.
What’s through the square window today. An HST in executive grey and yellow.
Through the same window a little later, we see a Class 317 EMU still in BR blue and grey
In this scene, another HST is just coming into view to the left of Kate Hardie’s head
An HST passes along the viaduct in the extreme top left of this view overlooking the junction between Citizen Road and Hornsey Road in Holloway. The redundunt plate girder bridge above Helen Shaver has since been removed as part of the areas wholesale redevelopment.