It's the same livery as Railway Technical Centre, Derby, but I don't think it was used by the research dept. It lived at Slade Green EMU depot, in plain blue as 08600 for long enough, then painted in the red/blue livery possibly 1980/81 (see my photo from 1981/2ish at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/57426-n33-0010-97800-ivor-slade-green/)and then got painted into Network South East around 1986, all the while allocated to Slade Green for shunting bits of EMUs and assorted wagons.

It's the same livery as Railway Technical Centre, Derby, but I don't think it was used by the research dept. It lived at Slade Green EMU depot, in plain blue as 08600 for long enough, then painted in the red/blue livery possibly 1980/81 (see my photo from 1981/2ish at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/57426-n33-0010-97800-ivor-slade-green/)and then got painted into Network South East around 1986, all the while allocated to Slade Green for shunting bits of EMUs and assorted wagons.

Yes you are right! I've no idea what made this one different and to why it was numbered in the 97xxx series, just to act as a depot shunter. Very strange! Love the livery mind.