 First illustrated edition | |
| Author | Edith Nesbit |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | C. E. Brock |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's |
| Published | 1906 |
| Publisher | Wells, Gardner, Darton |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 279 |
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known.
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The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography credits Oswald Barron, who had a deep affection for Nesbit, with having provided the plot. [1] The setting is thought to be inspired by Edith's walks to Grove Park nature reserve, close to where she lived on Baring Road. Grove Park station, near the reserve, now has a mural commemorating this connection. Alternatively, there is evidence that the inspiration came from Strines, a village near Marple in Greater Manchester. [2]
The story concerns a family who move from London to The Three Chimneys, a house near a railway, after the father, who works at the Foreign Office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying. The children, Roberta (nicknamed "Bobbie"), Peter and Phyllis, befriend an old gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15am train near their home; he is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence and the family is reunited. Before Father is freed, the family takes care of a Russian exile, Mr. Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family (later located) and Jim, the grandson of the Old Gentleman, who suffers a broken leg in a tunnel.
The theme of an innocent man being falsely imprisoned for espionage and finally vindicated might have been influenced by the Dreyfus Affair, which was a prominent worldwide news item a few years before the book was written. The Russian exile, persecuted by the Tsars for writing "a beautiful book about poor people and how to help them" and subsequently helped by the children, was most likely an amalgam of the real-life dissidents Sergius Stepniak and Peter Kropotkin who were both friends of the author. [3]
The book refers to the then current Russo-Japanese War and to attitudes taken by British people to the war. This dates the setting to the spring, summer and early autumn of 1905.
It also contains an early description of the trainspotting hobby in ch. 3: "'Yes,' said the Porter, 'I knowed a young gent as used to take down the numbers of every single one he seed; in a green note-book with silver corners it was, owing to his father being very well-to-do in the wholesale stationery.' Peter felt that he could take down numbers, too, even if he was not the son of a wholesale stationer."
The story has been adapted for the screen six times to date, including four television series, a feature film, and a made-for-television film.
It was serialised in five episodes, first broadcast in 1940 as part of Children's Hour . Later adapted for radio by Marcy Kahan and produced by John Taylor. It stars Paul Copley, Timothy Bateson and Victoria Carling and was first heard in 1991. The play is available on CD.
The story has been adapted as a television series four times by the BBC. The first of these, in 1951, was in 8 episodes of 30 minutes each. A second adaptation was then produced, which re-used some of the film from the original series but also contained new material with slight cast changes. This had 4 episodes of 60 minutes each. The supporting/background orchestral music used in these early programmes was the very lyrical second Dance from the Symphonic Dances by Edvard Grieg.
The BBC again revisited the story with an 8-episode series in 1957 and a 7-episode series in 1968. The 1968 adaptation was placed 96th in the BFI's 100 Greatest British Television Programmes poll of 2000. It starred Jenny Agutter as Roberta and Gillian Bailey as Phyllis. Of all the BBC TV adaptations, only the 1968 version is known to be extant; the rest are lost.
After the successful BBC dramatisation of 1968, the film rights were bought by the actor Lionel Jeffries, who wrote and directed the film, released in 1970. Jenny Agutter and Dinah Sheridan starred in the film. The music was composed, arranged and conducted by Johnny Douglas.
In October 1999, ITV made a new adaptation, as a made-for-television film. This time Jenny Agutter played the role of the mother. Others in the movie include Jemima Rooper, Jack Blumenau and JJ Feild. The railway filmed was the Bluebell Railway using some of the Railway's steam engines and rolling stock and NBR C Class 0–6–0 "Maude", from the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway.
| Cast | 1951 (BBC) | 1957 (BBC) | 1968 (BBC) | 1970 (film) | 2000 (Carlton Television) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mother | Jean Anderson | Jean Anderson | Ann Castle | Dinah Sheridan | Jenny Agutter |
| Father | John Stuart | John Richmond | Frederick Treves | Iain Cuthbertson | Michael Kitchen |
| Roberta | Marion Chapman | Anneke Wills | Jenny Agutter | Jenny Agutter | Jemima Rooper |
| Phyllis | Carole Lorimer | Sandra Michaels | Gillian Bailey | Sally Thomsett | Clare Thomas |
| Peter | Michael Croudson | Cavan Kendall | Neil McDermott | Gary Warren | Jack Blumenau |
| Perks | Michael Harding | Richard Warner | Gordon Gostelow | Bernard Cribbins | Gregor Fisher |
| Old Gentleman | DA Clarke-Smith | Norman Shelley | Joseph O'Conor | William Mervyn | Richard Attenborough |
| Dr Forrest | John Le Mesurier | John Stuart | John Ringham | Peter Bromilow | David Bamber |
In 2021 BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Saving of Albert Perks, a monologue by Bernard Cribbins in which the now adult Roberta returns to Oakworth with two Jewish refugee children who have escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport. [4]
2022 saw the release of The Railway Children Return , set in 1944. Jenny Agutter returns as an older Bobbie, now living in Oakworth with her daughter (played by Sheridan Smith) and her grandson, who take in a trio of children who have been evacuated. In the course of the film, Bobbie mentions that Peter is dead and buried in a nearby graveyard, and Phyllis is referenced in a manner that leaves it open if she's dead or simply elsewhere.
In 2005 the stage musical was first presented at Sevenoaks Playhouse in Kent, UK, with a cast including Are You Being Served? star Nicholas Smith as the Old Gentleman, [5] Paul Henry from Crossroads as Perks and West End star Susannah Fellows as Mother. Music is by Richard John and book and lyrics by Julian Woolford.
A new stage adaptation written by Mike Kenny and directed by Damian Cruden was staged in 2008 and 2009 at the National Railway Museum, York. The adaptation starred Sarah Quintrell, Colin Tarrant and Marshall Lancaster (2008 only), and featured a Stirling Single steam locomotive (GNR 4-2-2 No. 1 of 1870) which, while not actually in steam, entered the stage on the tracks originally leading into the York Goods Station, in which the 'Station Hall' section of the museum is now situated. The stage was constructed inside the large tent outside the Goods Station, which is usually reserved for some of the working locomotives of the museum. The project was set up by York Theatre Royal, and involved its younger members (Youth Theatre) in the production. [6] [7] This adaptation then transferred for two seasons to two disused platforms at Waterloo International railway station. [8]
A Toronto production in 2011 was staged at Roundhouse Park, home of John Street Roundhouse National Historic Site [9] by Mirvish Productions. A temporary 1,000-seat theatre was built at the base of the CN Tower, around the railway tracks—with the audience seated on either side—and it featured the vintage British steam locomotive No. 563 of the LSWR T3 class of 1893, shipped across specially for the occasion and then used in the subsequent 2014 production at King's Cross, London, [10] [11] which ran until 2017.
The production at Waterloo won an Olivier Award for best entertainment in 2011. [12]
The stage adaptation, produced by the National Railway Museum and York Theatre Royal, reopened in December 2014 in a new theatre behind London's Kings Cross station [13] and closed on 8 January 2017. [14] As with the Toronto production, this used LSWR T3 class No. 563. No.563 was later restored for full operational use by the Swanage Railway and returned to steam there in October 2023. [15] [16]
In 2011, Nesbit was accused of lifting the plot of the book from The House by the Railway written by Ada J. Graves. The Telegraph reported that the Graves book had been published in 1896, nine years before The Railway Children, [17] but not all sources agree on this finding. The magazine Tor.com stated that the earlier news report was incorrect, as both books had been released in the same year, 1906. [18]
A 200-metre footpath in Grove Park, Greater London is named Railway Children Walk to commemorate Nesbit's novel of the same name. The footpath is part of the Downham estate and connects Baring Road to Reigate Road, with a nature reserve adjoining from which the railway lines can be viewed. [19] Baring Road joins Grove Park to Lee. A similar path is also located in Oxenhope. [20]
In the last episode of the first season of British crime series Happy Valley (2014) a schoolteacher is reading part of the ending of The Railway Children, after which a schoolboy wants to find his father, though the latter has been warned of as being a criminal.
Bernard Joseph Cribbins was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over eight decades.
Edith Nesbit was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist and co-founder of the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party.
Jennifer Ann Agutter is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in East of Sudan, Star!, and two adaptations of The Railway Children; the BBC's 1968 television serial and the 1970 film version. In 1971 she also starred in the critically acclaimed film Walkabout and the TV film The Snow Goose, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama.
Five Children and It is a fantasy children's novel by English author E. Nesbit. It was originally published in 1902 in the Strand Magazine under the general title The Psammead, or the Gifts, with a segment appearing each month from April to December. The stories were then expanded into a novel which was published the same year. It is the first volume of a trilogy that includes The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) and The Story of the Amulet (1906). The book has never been out of print since its initial publication.
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. He is best known for his work in television acting in and co-creating shows with Steven Moffat. Gatiss has received several awards including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards.
Roberta Alexandra Mary Taylor was an English actress and author. She was known for her roles of Irene Raymond in EastEnders (1997–2000) and Inspector Gina Gold in The Bill (2002–2008).
The Phoenix and the Carpet is a fantasy novel for children, written by E. Nesbit and first published in 1904. It is the second in a trilogy of novels that begins with Five Children and It (1902), and follows the adventures of the same five children: Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and the Lamb. Their mother buys the children a new carpet to replace one from the nursery that they have destroyed in an accidental fire. The children find an egg in the carpet, which hatches into a talking Phoenix. The Phoenix explains that the carpet is a magic one that will grant them three wishes a day. The five children go on many adventures, which eventually wear out their magic carpet. The adventures are continued and concluded in the third book of the trilogy, The Story of the Amulet (1906).
Sally Thomsett is an English actress who starred as Phyllis in the film The Railway Children (1970) and played Jo in the TV sitcom Man About the House (1973–1976). She also appeared as Janice in the film Straw Dogs (1971) and Nemo in Baxter! (1973).
Julia Cuthbert Smith was an English television director and producer. She is best known for being the co-creator of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, also working as a director on the show and as its first producer.
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) No. 1 class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. Designed by Patrick Stirling, they are characterised by a single pair of large driving wheels which led to the nickname "eight-footer". Originally the locomotive was designed to haul up to 26 passenger carriages at an average speed of 47 miles per hour (76 km/h). They could reach speeds of up to 85 mph.
William Mervyn Pickwoad was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy All Gas and Gaiters, the old gentleman in The Railway Children and Inspector Charles Rose in The Odd Man and its sequels.
Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Mr. Mulliner stories of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a mischievous red-headed girl who is fond of practical jokes. She is a friend and one-time love interest of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster, and a relative of Mr. Mulliner.
Douglas James “Dougie” Henshall is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series Primeval (2007–2011) and Detective Inspector Jimmy Pérez in the crime drama Shetland (2013–2022).
Jonathan Cake is an English actor who has worked on various TV programmes and films. His notable screen roles include Jack Favell in Rebecca (1997), Oswald Mosley in Mosley (1997), Japheth in the NBC television film Noah's Ark (1999), Tyrannus in the ABC miniseries Empire (2005) and Det. Chuck Vance on the ABC drama series Desperate Housewives (2011–2012).
William Adams was an English railway engineer. He was the Locomotive Superintendent of the North London Railway from 1858 to 1873; the Great Eastern Railway from 1873 until 1878 and the London and South Western Railway from then until his retirement in 1895. He is best known for his locomotives featuring the Adams bogie, a device with lateral centring springs to improve high-speed stability. He should not be mistaken for William Bridges Adams (1797–1872) a locomotive engineer who, confusingly, invented the Adams axle – a radial axle that William Adams incorporated in designs for the London and South Western Railway.
The Railway Children is a 1970 British family drama film based on the 1906 novel of the same name by E. Nesbit. The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries and stars Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett, Gary Warren and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles. The film was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on 21 December 1970.
Nine Elms Locomotive Works were built in 1839 by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) adjoining their passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane, in the district of Nine Elms in the London Borough of Battersea. They were rebuilt in 1841 and remained the principal locomotive carriage and wagon workshops of the railway until closure in stages between 1891 and 1909. Thereafter a large steam motive power depot remained open on the site until 1967, serving Waterloo railway station.
The LSWR T3 class is a class of express passenger 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed for the London and South Western Railway by William Adams. Twenty were constructed between 1892 and 1893. One, No. 563, has been preserved and restored to full working order.
The Railway Children is a 2000 drama television film based on the 1906 novel by E. Nesbit. It was broadcast for the first time in the United Kingdom on 23 April 2000. Shortly afterwards, it was shown in the United States on the series Masterpiece Theatre.
The Railway Children Return, known as Railway Children in the US, is a 2022 family drama film directed by Morgan Matthews and written by Danny Brocklehurst. It is a sequel to the 1970 film The Railway Children, itself based on the E. Nesbit novel of the same name. The film stars Jenny Agutter, Sheridan Smith, Tom Courtenay and John Bradley. It was released in the United Kingdom on 15 July 2022 by StudioCanal.
[...] although news reports initially said that that The House by the Railway was published in 1896 — ten years before The Railway Children — that turns out to be the publication start date of the series that the book appeared in, not the actual book. Both books were published in 1906, and then as now, books took some time to get from the typewriter into actual print.
The Railway Children public domain audiobook at LibriVox 
