The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit. Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; August 15, 1858 - May 4, 1924) was an English author and poet whose childrens works were published under the androgynous name of E. Nesbit. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Jane Frank: illustration from Thomas Yoseloffs The Further Adventures of Till Eulenspiegel (1957). ... T. Fisher Unwin was the London publishing house owned by Thomas Fisher Unwin and founded by him in 1882. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; August 15, 1858 - May 4, 1924) was an English author and poet whose childrens works were published under the androgynous name of E. Nesbit. ...

Plot summary

The story concerns a family who move from London to rural Yorkshire after the father is falsely accused of selling state secrets to the Russians and imprisoned for five years. The three children, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis, find amusement in watching the trains on the nearby railway line and waving to the passengers. They become friendly with Perks, the station porter, and with The Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9.45 down train. He is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The story has been adapted for the screen six times to date, as four television series, a feature film and a made-for-television film. A television movie (also known as a TV film, TV movie, TV-movie, feature-length drama, made-for-TV movie, movie of the week (MOTW or MOW), single drama, telemovie, telefilm, or two-hour-long drama) is a film that is produced for and originally distributed by a television network. ...

Television series

The story was 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 four episodes of 60 minutes each.

The BBC again revisited the story with an 8-episode series in 1957 and again in 1968. The 1968 adaptation placed 96th in the BFI's 100 Greatest British Television Programmes poll of 2000. Of all the adaptations, only the 1968 version is known to be extant (it is currently available on DVD); the rest may be lost. The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and... 100 Greatest British Television Programmes was a list compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI) chosen by a poll of industry professionals, to determine what were the greatest British television programmes of any genre ever to have been screened. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... A lost film is a film which, for any of several reasons, is no longer in existence. ...

1970 Version

After the successful BBC dramatisation of the 1960s, the film rights were bought by the actor Lionel Jeffries. The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and its station at Oakworth provided the backdrop. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than £4 billion. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Lioniel Jeffries (born 10 June 1926 in London) is a British character actor and film director. ... Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T 41241 at Haworth station The Platform, Oxenhope Railway Station, terminus of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (photo by Nigel Homer, 2006) Damems Junction signal box The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is a five-mile (eight-km) long heritage railway line in West Yorkshire... Oakworth is a small town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near Keighley, by the River Worth. ...

The film was Jeffries' first feature as director (he also wrote the screenplay). It starred Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins (who ad libbed most of his performance). ^{[citation needed]} Jenny Agutter from the film Logans Run. ... Sally Thomsett (born April 3, 1950 in Sussex, England) is a British actress. ... Bernard Cribbins as Captain Michael in Space: 1999 episode Brian the Brain (1976). ... See AdLib for the computer sound card manufacturer. ...

• The film was a great success with critics and audiences alike. In 1999, the BFI named it as 66th in its list of the Top 100 British films. In 2004 the magazine Total Film named it the 46th greatest British film of all time.

• Unusually, the entire cast of the film break the fourth wall and perform a curtain call as the credits roll. Also a voice can be heard shouting "Thank you Mr Forbes" as an acknowledgement to Bryan Forbes who put up a security for the film to be completed..

1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... In 1999 the British Film Institute surveyed 1000 people from the world of UK film and television to produce the BFI 100 list of the greatest British films of the 20th century. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the magazine as a published medium. ... Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdoms second best-selling film magazine, after the longer-established Empire from Emap. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Curtain Call: The Hits will be Eminems fifth major label release. ... Bryan Forbes, CBE (born John Theobald Clark on July 22, 1926 in London) is an English film director, actor and writer. ...

2000 Version

In October of 1999 the film was remade for ITV at the Bluebell Railway. This time Jenny Agutter played the role of the mother (Dinah Sheridan in the 1970 film). Others in the movie include Jemima Rooper and JJ Feild. ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... Sheffield Park Station Exterior The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East Sussex and West Sussex, England. ... Dinah Sheridan (born Dinah Mec in Hampstead, London on 17 September 1920) is a popular English-born actress who appeared in the film Genevieve (1954). ... Jemima Rooper Jemima Rooper (born 24 October 1981) is a British actress. ... JJ Feild (often misspelled JJ Field) is an actor. ...

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Railway Children

Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ...

External links

• The Railway Children, available freely at Project Gutenberg
• HTML text with original illustrations, at Indiana
• 1957 TV series at the Internet Movie Database
• 1968 TV film at the Internet Movie Database
• 1970 film at the Internet Movie Database
• 2000 TV film at the Internet Movie Database
• British Film Institute Screen Online (1968 series)
• The Railway Children website