The Railway Children (1968– )

Stars:

Jenny Agutter, Gillian Bailey, Ann Castle

Cast

Series cast summary:
Jenny Agutter	...	Roberta Faraday (7 episodes, 1968)
Gillian Bailey	...	Phyllis Faraday (7 episodes, 1968)
Ann Castle	...	Mother (7 episodes, 1968)
Gordon Gostelow	...	Perks (7 episodes, 1968)
Neil McDermott	...	Peter Faraday (7 episodes, 1968)
Brian Hayes	...	Stationmaster (6 episodes, 1968)
John Ringham	...	Dr. Forrest (5 episodes, 1968)
Joseph O'Conor	...	Old Gentleman (3 episodes, 1968)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 1968 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min 25 min (7 episodes)

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

The eldest of the railway children, Roberta, is named after Berta Ruck, a close friend of E. Nesbit.

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Connections

Version of The Railway Children (1957)

User Reviews

The best of all the adaptations

This is the best of all the dramatisations. The children were the right age, and the format allowed more of the story to be covered. Jenny Agutter was enchanting, the boy was excellent and Gillian Bailey is one of the best child actors I've ever seen. I remember watching some of the series when I was sitting A levels and falling for Jenny Agutter, whom I later saw in "Star", playing Julie Andrews daughter. All the adults were excellent too, including the actor playing Perks - Gordon Costelow - who died recently. The Grieg music helps of course! The BBC ought to computer colour the series and digitally remaster it! The Lionel Jeffries film was good, but not as good as this version. The later TV film was good also, even though some critics were not so kind to it. Jemima Rooper was a good Bobbie. I saw a review of a stage version which had a black girl as Bobbie, an Asian boy as Peter and a white girl as Phyllis! Apparently it worked, due largely to the strength of Edith Nesbit's original story.