GB 1966 1hr 28mins Dir: John Gilling Starring: Michael Ripper and Dawn Addams
A secret agent is assigned to get the formula for a process that can drain nuclear energy
This comedy spy drama, clearly imitating the James Bond style that was popular at the time, has some scenes that were filmed at Staines West station, which had closed in March 1965. The train was formed of maroon Mk.1 coaches hauled by a Class 35 ‘Hymek’ and there is an additional shot of it on the branch with Tom Adams detraining whilst on the move. There are also shots of WR expresses that are used to depict train journeys, two are hauled again by ‘Hymek’s’, whilst a third is hauled by a ‘Western’, though curiously only the wheels and underframe of the latter are visible. Finally, there is a shot of the concourse at London Waterloo station, though the platform scene at Waterloo used maroon-liveried Mk1’s at Staines West again, and a studio set of a carriage interior with the back-projection plate showing a green-liveried Maunsell vehicle! Incidentally, an earlier studio-bound train journey has back-projection that shows an arrival at a station but the BR totem nameboard can’t be read through the window.
A Class 35 ‘Hymek’ approaches the camera on a Western Region express
The camera follows the course of the train revealing the Mk.1 coaching stock in clear detail. The first coach is in maroon but the second, along with several others in the formation, has recently been outshopped in the new BR corporate blue and grey and is immaculate.
This is all we get to see of the ‘Western’!!
The third express shows another ‘Hymek’, this one working headcode 2A37
The train stands at the overgrown platform at Staines West, closed a year earlier. The locomotive visible at the front is another Class 35 ‘Hymek’.
This departure scene from Staines West shows that despite being closed most of the infrastructure still stands. Although closed to passengers from 29th March 1965, an oil terminal had opened in the former goods yard.
The familiar view of the concourse at London Waterloo
The platform scene at Waterloo used Staines West again
The train interior used a set with a vintage Maunsell coach visible through the window as part of the back-projection
Tom Adams makes his escape from the moving train. This was almost certainly filmed on the Staines West branch.
An earlier studio-bound train journey shows this arrival at a station, though the sign visible at the top of the centre window is not readable.
