God's Wonderful Railway is a British children's drama television series made by the BBC. It was first shown in eight 30-minute episodes, from 6 February 1980. The cast includes Gorden Kaye, June Brown, Gerard Kelly, Richard Pearson and Terry Molloy.
The series focuses on three generations of the Grant family working on an unnamed Great Western Railway branch line. The first section, entitled Permanent Way, depicts the construction of the line in the reign of Queen Victoria, the second, entitled Clear Ahead, shows the line in operation in Edwardian times, and the third, Fire on the Line, is set during the Second World War.
Since the series was made for children, each part of the story focuses on events from the perspective of then younger members of the Grant family. The same characters reappear as adults as the story progresses, but in incidental roles.
"God's Wonderful Railway" was a nickname for the pre-nationalisation Great Western Railway. [1]
The series was written by Avril Rowlands with episodes directed by Fiona Cumming and John Prowse.
The location filming was done on and around the Severn Valley Railway. [2] A reference is made to the area in the music for the opening and closing credits: a version of the first movement of Elgar's The Severn Suite arranged for brass band by David Lyon. [3]
The series remains available on DVD, as a download on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, and in excerpts on YouTube. [4] [5]
The scripts were adapted into a series of three juvenile fiction books. [6]
Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. The series follows low-ranking technician Dave Lister, who awakens after being in suspended animation for three million years to find that he is the last living human, and alone on the mining spacecraft Red Dwarf, save for a hologram of Arnold Rimmer, Lister's deceased bunkmate, and Cat, a life form which evolved from Lister's pregnant cat.
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The 16-mile (26 km) heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and crossing the river on the historic Victoria Bridge.
The Severn Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) between 1873 and 1886 for the purpose of dramatically shortening the journey times of their trains, passenger and freight alike, between South Wales and Western England. It has often been regarded as the crowning achievement of GWR's chief engineer Sir John Hawkshaw.
The Golden Valley line is the popular name given to the railway line between Swindon and Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa in England.
The Severn Beach line is a local railway line in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, England. It runs from Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach, and used to extend to Pilning. The first sections of the line were opened in 1863 as part of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, the section through Bristol was opened in 1875 as the Clifton Extension Railway. The line has faced several threats of closure over the years, and has been reduced to single track in many places. In recent years however it has experienced a surge in passenger numbers, with a 90% increase in the years 2007–11. All services along the line are operated by Great Western Railway, generally two trains per hour in each direction between Temple Meads and Avonmouth, calling at all stations, with one train per hour extended to Severn Beach. The line carries little freight traffic, with most of the heavy freight traffic to Avonmouth Docks being routed via the Henbury Loop Line through Filton. The line has been highlighted by Thomas Cook as one of the scenic lines of Europe.
Oh, Doctor Beeching! is a BBC television sitcom written by David Croft and Richard Spendlove which, after a broadcast pilot on 14 August 1995, ran for two series from 8 July 1996, with the last episode being broadcast on 28 September 1997. The series is notable for being the last in a series of three comedies by co-writer David Croft to use many of the same actors, starting with Hi-de-Hi! and followed by You Rang, M'Lord? and was also the last full series written by David Croft.
Rowland Rivron is a British writer, comedic actor and television personality.
Clifton Down railway station is on the Severn Beach line and serves the district of Clifton in Bristol, England. It is 3.9 miles (6.3 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is CFN. The station has two platforms, each serving trains in one direction only. As of 2015 it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every 30 minutes in each direction.
Sea Mills railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Sea Mills and nearby Westbury on Trym in Bristol, England. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) from Bristol Temple Meads, situated at the confluence of the River Avon and River Trym and near the A4 Bristol Portway. Its three letter station code is SML. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. As of 2015 it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every 30 minutes in each direction.
Shirehampton railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Shirehampton in Bristol, England. It is 7.6 miles (12.2 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is SHH. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. As of 2015 it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every 30 minutes in each direction.
Avonmouth railway station is located on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Avonmouth in Bristol, England. It is 9.0 miles (14.5 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is AVN. The station has two platforms, on either side of two running lines. As of 2015 it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every 30 minutes to Bristol Temple Meads and one every hour to Severn Beach.
St Andrews Road railway station is located near to St Andrew's Road and serves a large industrial area near to Avonmouth, Bristol, England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.
Severn Beach railway station serves the village of Severn Beach, England. This is the terminus of the Severn Beach Line.
Arley railway station is a station on the Severn Valley Railway heritage line in Worcestershire, situated just over the River Severn from the village of Upper Arley; a footbridge crosses the river to link the station to the village. The station is about 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) north of Victoria Bridge, on which the SVR crosses the River Severn.
The Wellington to Craven Arms Railway was formed by a group of railway companies that eventually joined the Great Western Railway family, and connected Wellington, Shropshire and Shifnal, with Coalbrookdale, Buildwas, Much Wenlock and a junction near Craven Arms. Its objectives were dominated by the iron, colliery and limestone industries around Coalbrookdale.
The Appleyards was a British television soap opera for children, made and transmitted fortnightly by BBC Television from October 1952 to April 1957, from the BBC's Lime Grove Studios. It was produced and directed by Naomi Capon.
Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. The first series, which used the longer title, was broadcast on BBC2 in 1980. After a 14-year hiatus, a further three series were broadcast between 1994 and 1999, using the shorter series title. Similar series were broadcast in 1983, Great Little Railways, and 2010, Great British Railway Journeys.
The Sharpness branch line is a railway in Gloucestershire, England, built by the Midland Railway (MR) to connect the port of Sharpness to the main Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The line opened for goods traffic in 1875 and to passenger traffic a year later. Passenger services were withdrawn in November 1964, but the line remains open for freight traffic to and from Sharpness Docks.
Carrie's War is an adaptation of Nina Bawden's book Carrie's War, broadcast from 28 January 1974 to 25 February 1974 on BBC1 in five 30-minute episodes.
Network Rail planned to spend £5 billion on modernising the Great Western Main Line, its South Wales branch and other associated lines. The modernisation plans were announced at separate times but their development time-scales overlap in the 2010s. The work included electrification, resignalling, new rolling stock and station upgrades. According to Network Rail, the modernisation started in June 2010 and was due to end in 2017. As of December 2019, electrification was complete as far west as Cardiff Central, and also from Reading to Newbury.
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