RMweb Premium Neil Posted December 20, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 20, 2013 Well I enjoyed it. There's all sorts of stuff out there in film and telly land that is 'wrong'. For instance we all know that police boxes aren't bigger on the inside than out, their never was a Bedford VAL stuffed with gold teetering on the edge of an alpine precipice and it's questionable whether Jack Reagan was tall enough to be a copper. It seems a shame that we can't put the railway 'wrongs' to one side like we do the other stuff and just enjoy the story. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
60021 Pen-y-Ghent Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Read the book - it's a very good read! (Signal Red by Robert Ryan - I'm not related in any way, just enjoyed reading it.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopardml2341 Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Can I point out (I think the only) bit of the actual railway history that they got right was the headcode; 1M44. Perhaps an anorak someone set that and then 'nicked off' with the handles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted December 20, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 20, 2013 Can I point out (I think the only) bit of the actual railway history that they got right was the headcode; 1M44. Perhaps an anorak someone set that and then 'nicked off' with the handles. And D326 (but on the wrong loco class!) Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 If the historical inaccuracies don't matter why bother with any of the (wrong) period items? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Well I enjoyed it. There's all sorts of stuff out there in film and telly land that is 'wrong'. For instance we all know that police boxes aren't bigger on the inside than out, their never was a Bedford VAL stuffed with gold teetering on the edge of an alpine precipice and it's questionable whether Jack Reagan was tall enough to be a copper. It seems a shame that we can't put the railway 'wrongs' to one side like we do the other stuff and just enjoy the story. I'm with Neil on this one; I know it never could be accurate and it's only a matter of degree how wrong it may have turned out no matter how hard they tried - what I took pleasure in was Jim Broadbent; as ever, an absolute treasure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 there was a nice mk1 jag in the second part Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold griffgriff Posted December 20, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2013 IIRC police MkIIs were usually top spec mechanically (e.g. 3.8 litre) but with very basic trim, so they looked like a 2.4 to the uninitiated. Can't have them plods sitting on leather seats, can we? Keith Didn't the 2.4 out perform its bigger brother. IIRC the increased engine power of the 3.8 didn't cover the extra weight. I believe the criminal fraternity used the 2.4 as a get away car for that reason. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Well I enjoyed it. There's all sorts of stuff out there in film and telly land that is 'wrong'. For instance we all know that police boxes aren't bigger on the inside than out, their never was a Bedford VAL stuffed with gold teetering on the edge of an alpine precipice and it's questionable whether Jack Reagan was tall enough to be a copper. It seems a shame that we can't put the railway 'wrongs' to one side like we do the other stuff and just enjoy the story. I tend to agree, but part of me says that because railway types are systematically derided in the media as nerds, producers consciously don't bother to make the effort. Imagine if The Damned United was full of football howlers and continuity errors. Or the recent biopics of Hunt/ Lauda and Senna. I try and suspend disbelief, believe me, but sometimes I feel offended that just because it's got railway subject matter, it can be snidely buggered about with by the props department. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted December 21, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 21, 2013 Whilst I agree that it was a programme made for the great unwashed, not railway enthusiasts, it just baffles me as to why such great efforts were made to get the headcode and loco number right, but very little else railway related was correct. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 TV dramas these days are very often made by independant production companies then sold to BBC / ITV etc, or partially funded by them at least, which means these companies are very much on their own and may not have all the right contacts when it comes to sourcing the correct props and locations etc. Hoping to watch both films soon... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 Imagine dragging a class 40 out of the prop cupboard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40F Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 And the First bus in the NEW livery in the closing shots in the café. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 OK, well... I was quite looking forward to watching this. Both episodes waiting for me on the Sky box. I was perfectly prepared to treat it for what it was - a few hours of throwaway fact-based drama. I have to say that after 4 pages of forum nit-picking and the TV analysis version of rivet-counting, I've kind of gone off it now and will probably hit the delete button. I personally don't care if a period police car has a sunroof, but the problem is... if I watch it now, I'll be looking out for all the faults picked up so far, and that will spoil my enjoyment of what could have been a half-decent bit of telly. Humbug. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 Sorry mate. You can blame me for starting them off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Sorry mate. You can blame me for starting them off. Nah - just having a quick moan, no big deal! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Ava_Hay Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 A couple of points. This was listed as a drama. Not a documentary or even a docu-drama ( whatever that is ) As i have said previously, if you remember the 60's you weren't there. This equally applies to the GTR and all the events surrounding it. A great deal of what we know is either a memory or a sound bite from the various media. I doubt that any of the gang members was forthcoming about anything to do with the crime even after they were caught and indeed, memories can play funny tricks I spend more time watching the drama unfold and listening to the dialogue and trying to puzzle out who is who. I actually thought that the characters were quite carefully matched with the real people and was riveted by that so didn't really notice any inaccuracies. Not one of you has mentioned that Buster Edwards committed suicide many years later whilst he was reputedly running a successful florists under Waterloo Station. It was glossed over at the time. One wonders if any of what was a large gang is still alive and what has become of them. One also wonders if they are railway modellers themselves. Or even on here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 One also wonders if they are railway modellers themselves. Still trying to model the scene as they remember it, correct in every detail, or as it might have been. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 A great deal of what we know is either a memory or a sound bite from the various media. I doubt that any of the gang members was forthcoming about anything to do with the crime even after they were caught and indeed, memories can play funny tricks The facts have been down on paper for a very long time... it's just that TV production companies tend to ignore or change them when comitting a story to film or tape! The reason we get so picky about these things is that in any other period drama, most of the detail is right, yet when it comes to anything involving the railway things tend to go downhill. As has already been said, it is difficult for certain period detail to be found and used, but past efforts such as 'Mrs.Biggs' (and to a certain degree 'Buster') proves that if those in charge ask the right people for advice it can be done very, very well indeed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Still trying to model the scene as they remember it, correct in every detail, or as it might have been. I thought some of the Luton MRC guys looked a bit suspect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 thats absolutely brilliant! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 And they managed to stop it in exactly the right spot.... it matches all the crime scene photos I've seen! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
balders Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Well, despite the glaring "technical production rivet-counting" errors, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, I sat with Mrs. B pointing out those inconsistencies, but I gave up and just enjoyed the telly during the first film. And Part 2 was very enjoyable, watched in the early hours of Friday morning after work with a cheeky Russian Standard or two. Errors included. Nice to have something watchable for a change! Well done BBC for having it on. Will have to watch Mrs. Biggs........Mrs. B said it was very good at the time, but she reads Heat magazine, so I didn't bother. I should have! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 ...Except Mrs Biggs got some railway items wrong. The initial scenes where they met on thr train were supposed to be the late 1950s but the train was hauled by a Brush type 4, they passed another train including a 1965 built Mk2, and the scene of "Paddington" included a CGI Western in rail blue. Plus when Mrs Biggs landed in Australia her connecting DC3 flight had the web address of the real aircraft owners painted on the door. Perhaps TAA had Tardis powered Daks flying the outback route... Apart from that it was a good programme and showed Mr Biggs to be somewhat less of a "loveable rogue" than popular myth would have us think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 The best one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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