Endeavour Sunday 18 February 18

[backontrack]

I watched Endeavour last night - very enjoyable. I wondered if it was filmed on the Cholsey to Wallingford line but the station would have been a terminus if that were the case. Quainton Road does seem right, and looked right too - I initially thought that the first station might have been Hanborough, though I don't think that it was.

Good to see parly services getting a mention!

One thing that struck me was that the creators were good at creating fictional station names that sounded realistic:

Norborough (Hanborough)
King's Oak (King's Sutton)
East Pitherbury (no idea)
Gibbet's End (I like the metaphor)

Roger Allam was terrific as always, and I particularly thought that Anton Lesser was superb in last night's episode. When he lost his temper, you forgot that he was acting - it was sublimely done.

My parents also noticed the Crossroads Motel @ilkestonian - a nice touch.

Was good - often is - the attention to period detail is excellent - even down to cigarette and biscuit packets. The Crossroads reference was superb. (though probably only noted by anyone over the age of 50)

Authenticity doesn't matter to me, but I do appreciate the attention to detail. There are always little things to spot and enjoy.

 

[trubla]

The IMDb website says it was Ropley Station on the Mid Hants Railway.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Mid Hants?
Something quite inappropriate to have green stations somewhere in Oxfordshire!
They've used Southern places before (as did Downton Abbey, supposed to be set in Yorks!).
Midsomer Murders (also set near to Oxford in the Chilterns) at least tends to use Chiltern Trains routes, but that is of course "modern".
The Princes Risborough-Aylesbury branch often shows up with a Bubble Car DMU, or somewhere like Beaconsfield with a 165.
But you'd think Endeavour would use Didcot for local railway scenes, or Glos Warks, or Severn Valley as being more authentic WR in the 1960s.
It was also about then when BR started painting stations in black and white (and trains blue), getting away from the old regional/Big 4 colours.

 

[The Crab]

Thank you for the replies. The series is now in 1968 so I suppose that these Bulleids must be coming down from Lostock Hall!

 

[Engineer]

Midsomer Murders fictional County Town is Causton, the station depicted and filmed is Twyford; as we all know on the GWR originally. I often saw wheel slipping Bullied Southern engines and even green coaches at Oxford, but no green station paint. .

 

[ChiefPlanner]

One thing they did miss was the shiny well polished rails on the supposedly long closed and disused track that Morse walked along.

That was a bit obvious -but then they have a budget .....

 

[w0033944]

One thing they did miss was the shiny well polished rails on the supposedly long closed and disused track that Morse walked along.

My dad pointed that out.

 

[jonty14]

The model railway was nice. I wonder where they got that from or was it made for the program.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Mid Hants?
Something quite inappropriate to have green stations somewhere in Oxfordshire!
They've used Southern places before (as did Downton Abbey, supposed to be set in Yorks!).
Midsomer Murders (also set near to Oxford in the Chilterns) at least tends to use Chiltern Trains routes, but that is of course "modern".
The Princes Risborough-Aylesbury branch often shows up with a Bubble Car DMU, or somewhere like Beaconsfield with a 165.
But you'd think Endeavour would use Didcot for local railway scenes, or Glos Warks, or Severn Valley as being more authentic WR in the 1960s.
It was also about then when BR started painting stations in black and white (and trains blue), getting away from the old regional/Big 4 colours.

Or the Chosely Steam railway?

 

[ilkestonian]

One thing they did miss was the shiny well polished rails on the supposedly long closed and disused track that Morse walked along.

I wondered about that, but then I wondered if he was walking back along the open line he had just travelled on when he spotted the disused wagons adjacent to the running line.

So either a basic error or an H&S nightmare

 

[randyrippley]

The model railway had a Western in it. Were there any convincing 00 models in 1968?

Yes - around then Trix did a OO Western model, available in Green / Maroon / Blue.
Not sure, but I think the OO/HO range went to Airfix, the N gauge "MiniTrix" to Graham Farish

 

[CarltonA]

The IMDb website says it was Ropley Station on the Mid Hants Railway.

Quainton Road was also featured (the scenes where Morse finds the dead girl & the depot robbery/murder). Ironically an Oxford station has been relocated on site:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Rewley_Road_railway_station

 

[backontrack]

The model railway was nice. I wonder where they got that from or was it made for the program.

It was very nice.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

...or an H&S nightmare

In 1968 they wouldn't have been that bothered would they? So in that respect it's accurate...

 

[ilkestonian]

In 1968 they wouldn't have been that bothered would they? So in that respect it's accurate...

Very true!

 

[Steptoe]

Midsomer Murders fictional County Town is Causton, the station depicted and filmed is Twyford; as we all know on the GWR originally. I often saw wheel slipping Bullied Southern engines and even green coaches at Oxford, but no green station paint. .

I've often wondered if the script writer for this series lives or lived in Norfolk as Cawston and Twyford are real villages. Both have railway connections in that Cawston used to have a station and Twyford is alongside the alignment of the old Broom Green to Foulsham section of the GER.

 

[MotCO]

!
They've used Southern places before (as did Downton Abbey, supposed to be set in Yorks!).
.

But it was filmed at Highclere, near Newbury, so Southern is almost appropriate

 

[John Luxton]

The model railway had a Western in it. Were there any convincing 00 models in 1968?

Trix produced a Western which according to this article was available from 1965 - but I thought the blue models came later the initial released being Maroon and Green.

https://www.railwaymagazinemodelling.co.uk/rmm-july-issue-blasts-from-the-past-trix/

John

 

[John Luxton]

Did anyone notice the audible warning for the crossing where the enthusiasts kills himself?
Obviously dubbed in at some point as there was no infrastructure around the very basic barriers to support an audible warning device.
The British Rail van was in silver too - from what I recall most of the small vans were bight yellow.
Also would not one have expected British Transport Police to be in attendance for the crimes which took place on railway property?

A final observation also concerned the enthusiasts 1950s 127 Brownie Camera, given that early in the film he states that he is a school inspector one might have supposed that his wages would have been sufficient to buy something better.

Browse around for images of railway enthusiasts of the period and most had small cameras probably of German make in leather cases as this was just before the Japanese massacred the German camera industry.

Those 127 Brownies from the 50s were awful. Fixed aperture / shutter speed 8 shots on 127 - very fuzzy lenses and no shutter / winder interlocking mechanism multiple exposures were possible and could easily spoil your shots. My mother was given an identical one to that seen in Endeavour for a wedding present and she still has it. Dreadful camera. I was given a 1960s version for Christmas 1965 - that was better and had interlocking between shutter and film advance as well as contacts for a flash. But the lens was still appalling!

John

 

[CarltonA]

But it was filmed at Highclere, near Newbury, so Southern is almost appropriate

Not really, Newbury being mostly GWR territory and "Downton" actually being Bampton in.....Oxfordshire.

https://www.oxfordshirecotswolds.org/plan-your-visit/towns-and-villages/downton-abbey-film-locations

 

[AnthonyRail]

Watched it yesterday on demand just for the rail scenes. Was good to see a class 33 on tv.

 

[w0033944]

I'm glad that this thread has attracted as much interest as it has - I feared it might not get much, if any, response from a forum that seems to focus mainly on contemporary matters.