The Navigators film

[102 fan]

I've just watched 'The Navigators', the film about the early days of privatisation. It certainly paints a bleak picture. How accurately does it reflect the situation at the time?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Are we talking about the 2001 Ken Loach film, about the impact of rail privatisation on the working lives of a number of track maintenance staff located in Sheffield?

Was this on DVD (or similar) or has the film just been aired on TV in the UK somewhere recently?

 

[Ploughman]

Most of the Extras in that film were full time PW staff many from the renewals gangs in W and S Yorkshire.

 

[Albaman]

I bought a copy of the video of this film some years ago . Unfortunately, I don't have any means of watching it at the moment and it is some time since I last saw it.

Regarding the enquiry from 102 fan, I think it describes quite accurately some of the situations that arose and the struggle that supervisors and middle level managers had in dealing with them.

One excellent scene is where the supervisor has to brief his men on the new organisation but a problem arises at the start because one man present is on loan from an adjacent depot which, under privatisation , is now part of a different Track Maintenance Company. As a result, he has got to leave the briefing because he could be " spying ".

Later in the briefing, the supervisor mentions that the new company must have mission statement. One of the men asks what this is and the supervisor says something like it tells us what we have to do and then we do it. This, not surprisingly, prompts much hilarity from his reluctant audience.

Also there are some really funny scenes and dialogue throughout with one of the best being the one in the chip shop where the cleaner has been conned into expecting free sardines if he places a big order.

Finally, there is a serious message in the film and I can recommend it without hesitation.

 

[steamybrian]

I bought a copy of the video of this film some years ago . Unfortunately, I don't have any means of watching it at the moment and it is some time since I last saw it.

Regarding the enquiry from 102 fan, I think it describes quite accurately some of the situations that arose and the struggle that supervisors and middle level managers had in dealing with them.

One excellent scene is where the supervisor has to brief his men on the new organisation but a problem arises at the start because one man present is on loan from an adjacent depot which, under privatisation , is now part of a different Track Maintenance Company. As a result, he has got to leave the briefing because he could be " spying ".

Later in the briefing, the supervisor mentions that the new company must have mission statement. One of the men asks what this is and the supervisor says something like it tells us what we have to do and then we do it. This, not surprisingly, prompts much hilarity from his reluctant audience.

Also there are some really funny scenes and dialogue throughout with one of the best being the one in the chip shop where the cleaner has been conned into expecting free sardines if he places a big order.

Finally, there is a serious message in the film and I can recommend it without hesitation.

I fully agree with Albaman.
During the 1990s with the split from BR to privatisation there were many other similar stories I witnessed.

As an example when staff began work for the new private companies some jobs carried on being done by the "old boys" network against the advice of the "new managers" who wanted legal experts to sort it out first.

The new managers ignored advice from the staff and wanted immediate changes to working practiceses.

I also fully recommend the film.

 

[102 fan]

I hope and trust it isn't how things are done now!

 

[Titfield]

I bought a copy of the video of this film some years ago . Unfortunately, I don't have any means of watching it at the moment and it is some time since I last saw it.

Regarding the enquiry from 102 fan, I think it describes quite accurately some of the situations that arose and the struggle that supervisors and middle level managers had in dealing with them.

One excellent scene is where the supervisor has to brief his men on the new organisation but a problem arises at the start because one man present is on loan from an adjacent depot which, under privatisation , is now part of a different Track Maintenance Company. As a result, he has got to leave the briefing because he could be " spying ".

Later in the briefing, the supervisor mentions that the new company must have mission statement. One of the men asks what this is and the supervisor says something like it tells us what we have to do and then we do it. This, not surprisingly, prompts much hilarity from his reluctant audience.

Also there are some really funny scenes and dialogue throughout with one of the best being the one in the chip shop where the cleaner has been conned into expecting free sardines if he places a big order.

Finally, there is a serious message in the film and I can recommend it without hesitation.

If you have the dvd it is worth watching the out takes as that adds even more colour.

An excellent film which certainly portrays the chaos caused by privatisation. In some ways it just shows how little the government learned after the chaos inflicted on the bus industry in the 1980s which they then replicate in the rail industry in the next decade. The amount of money spent on consultants and lawyers was horrific.

 

[Ashley Hill]

It’s on YouTube too!

 

[Trackman]

The 'Where's my sardines?' scene cracks me up!

 

[MoleStation]

Yes the chip shop scene is complete hoot!
There's a couple of youtube uploads of the complete film but this is the best channel as it has loads of Play For Today episodes/films and is always being updated -

https://youtube.com/@playforforever8464

 

[Ashley Hill]

I hadn’t seen this for years,in fact my copy is on VHS whichI recorded when first shown on C4 IIRC. As my video recorder packed up years ago I watched it on YouTube this morning.
I’d forgotten how true most of it was!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Managed to track down a DVD of the film, which for some reason has subtitles in both English and Korean!

The film, overall, seems to have a similar vibe to "The Full Monty", albeit perhaps with not so much of an overall feel good factor (in view of what happens to Jim - one of the main characters - towards the end).

Having said that, it's a mostly entertaining hour and a half, and the "sardines" gag involving the dim-witted / well-nourished messroom cleaner who's gone down to the local chippy for a job lot of chips, as has been mentioned upthread, is an absolute hoot.

Maybe not so laugh out loud is the trackside workgang, getting showered with sh*t from a passing train, proof positive of why it's always necessary to keep a proper lookout on the railway , and why the subsequent adoption of holding tanks has been no bad thing.

An interesting take on the state of the nation's railway infrastructure, immediately post-privitisation.

Film rating (out of five): ☆☆☆

 

[Ashley Hill]

I can not find the right thread for myself in this forum. I think I’ll just look at a movie)

Try Navigators via the YouTube link above!

 

[SargeNpton]

Probably no longer performed, David Hare's 2003 Play "The Permanent Way", also dealt with the effects of privatisation, from the passing of the 1993 Railways act up to the Potters Bar accident.

Was also done as a radio play on Radio 3 - so that may be on the BBC Sounds app.

 

[LUYMun]

I've recently watched 'The Navigators' - it's a good film, but strays away on some parts for my liking. Sadly I felt the final scene, featuring one of the character's accident, was cheap, given it only showed the aftermath and not a dramatic lead-up. 'The Navigators' does hit the hammer on the head when showcasing the privatisation process of the railways, even to us enthusiasts who would've seen it. But it's worth knowing that the film debuted prior to the establishment of Network Rail, so watching it at the time would've been more of a social commentary than a drama.