New BBC Drama featuring the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

The BBC have finally scheduled a new five part drama called "Five Days 2" for Monday 1st March - Friday 5th March at 21:00 on BBC1. Seven days worth of filming took place in late August on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway for this drama

http://tinyurl.com/y9eatlh

Cheers.

 

without trawling the BBC website, whats the general gist of the drama,im presuming modern day stuff!!,any good shots of the locations etc!!

ta

 

The BBC have kept the plot reasonably secretive unfortunately and only those who were asked to drive and guard know what happened (and even then they haven't told anybody). The station at Wirksworth was converted into a fictional station called Castlebury that is supposed to be in Yorkshire. Having browsed the rolling stock the railway has to offer, the BBC chose Class 101's E51505 and M51188 to use in the production.

I have attached a photograph of E51505 standing in the modified station (actually the didn't change much). They put up a 'fake' fence between platforms 2 and 3, changed poster boards and painted some lamps and thats about it. They also branded the vehicles with an imaginary company.

 

It's a second series of this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/fivedays/abouttheshow.shtml

It says it's a crime thriller. Murder by DMU, perhaps? Or murder of DMU driver/guard by irate commuter?

 

I do know it involved a bridge...

 

Saw a trailer for the programme on the tele last night as well!

 

not that bad a livery actually, like the stripe being used to represent the hills, give it six months itl be on someones toc stock i bet!!!!

 

It was alright actually apart from the random white door. They used vinyl transfers to apply it to the vehicle with vaseline underneath so that it would peel off easily.

 

As an update, here is an official press release from the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway:

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Wirksworth on National Television AGAIN! Rail-Based Drama "Five Days 2" Airs on BBC1 in Early March

Wirksworth, 22nd February 2010: The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is featuring once again on national television when BBC1 airs the drama Five Days 2 nightly at 9:00p.m. from 1st to 5th March.

A gripping five-part mystery produced by Gwyneth Hughes (Five Days, Miss Austen Regrets, Cherished) for BBC Drama is set around an intriguing plot: A tiny newborn baby is abandoned in the toilets of a Yorkshire hospital. At the same time, the Trans-Pennine commuter train is halted by a suicidal jumper – are they connected?

“Filming at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is like having your own giant train set. All the staff understand the filming process and are willing to go that extra mile for you to get the perfect shot” remarked Andy Morgan, the BBC’s location manager.

The Trans-Pennine train has been provided by the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway and follows several major productions for TV and cinema that have used the railway’s RailFilmLocations.biz facilities. Formed in 2004, RailFilmLocations.biz specialises in providing rail vehicles and appropriate locations along the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway for film and TV productions which have included Casualty, The ITV Drama ‘Mobile’ and several big screen productions including ‘Oranges and Sunshine’, a film addressing one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the organised deportation of children in care from the United Kingdom to Australia.

Stephan Pehrsson, the shoot’s cinematographer with credits as diverse as the BBC’s Hustle, Holby Blue and M.I. High complemented the railway’s facilities: “I had a great time filming on the train, the staff was very helpful and managed to keep us all safe around the big machines. We did some great scenes there that would have been impossible to do anywhere else.”

RailFilmLocations.biz continues to expand its facilities at Wirksworth and as the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway moves toward opening its entire length to Duffield, just north of Derby, the range of scenery and locations available will continue to expand, allowing a range from gritty, modern urban to picture postcard rural.

The RailFilmLocations.biz team can be contacted on 01629 821828 or by email at wirksworth_station@wyvernrail.co.uk.


Ends.



Note to Editors:

Four high-quality digital images are available to download:
http://www.e-v-r.com/press/fd001.jpg depicts Anne Reid (Coronation Street, Dinnerladies) and Suranne Jones (Coronation Street, Vincent, The Sarah Jane Adventures) filming a scene on one of the railway’s trains.

http://www.e-v-r.com/press/fd002.jpg depicts Anne Reid and Suranne Jones at Wirksworth Station, dressed as West Yorkshire station ‘Castlebury’

http://www.e-v-r.com/press/fd3.jpg depicts two young actors alongside the railway’s sylvan location.

http://www.e-v-r.com/press/fd4.jpg depicts the film crew in operation on the railway line


About the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway:

WyvernRail plc is working with the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association to reopen the Duffield to Wirksworth railway in the heart of Derbyshire.

The line passes through the beautiful Ecclesbourne Valley to the award winning and beautifully restored town of Wirksworth, nestling at the foothills of the Peak District.

The line is a time capsule, with its intermediate stations largely intact and the layout at Wirksworth virtually unchanged since the days of steam.

There are 8½ miles of single-track railway, which meet the Midland Main Line at Duffield Junction near Derby. There are five station sites, two level crossings, a yard with extensive sidings and a mineral branch to the old Middlepeak quarry at Wirksworth. Since 2004, 4½ miles of the line have been reopened and it is planned to complete the reopening by April 2011.

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It would be interesting to know what %age on non heritage rail activity activities such as filming / rail test etc form as part of a railway's income. Not necessarily for the EVRA but other lines - would indicate how prepared a group / line is prepared to diversify

 

quite a lot of lines countrywide do smaller training for NR as well as small scale testing for outside industry, very hard to gauge a countrywide feel, the bigger lines obviously do a lot of vehicle testing, your line has its my test track operation,there are others down south I believe are looking at doing similar..

 

Lots of filming gos on at Liverpool Rd Station Manchester Now MOSI, Planet was filmed on on day of the Royal visit after the A1 had depart. Due to be shown on BBC 19.00Hrs Easter Day. If they got all the filming done were running late due to snow !

 

The following was published in the Derby Evening Telegraph last night (Thursday):

--Baby born in loo and grisly death on track as TV returns to line--

A DERBYSHIRE railway will feature in a new BBC drama to be aired next week.

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway will appear in scenes for a five-part mystery called Five Days 2, a follow-up to Five Days, which also used the private line.

The series, starring Anne Reid and Suranne Jones, will run over five consecutive nights on BBC1 next week, starting on Monday.

It centres around whether the stories of a newborn baby abandoned in the toilets of a Yorkshire hospital and a Trans-Pennine commuter train halted by a suicide are connected.

As well as the location, Ecclesbourne Valley Railway also supplied the train.

The show is the latest in a growing list of film and television productions to be filmed in Derbyshire.

These include BBC hospital drama Casualty, ITV series Mobile, and big screen production Oranges and Sunshine – about the exposure of the scandal surrounding the deportation of children in care to Australia.

The railway, owned by Wyvern Rail, is an eight-and-a-half mile stretch of private track between Wirksworth and Duffield and includes Wirksworth Station.

As well as filming, it is used for a range of purposes including train testing.

Filming work is arranged through the railway's RailFilmLocations.biz arm, which was formed in 2004 to provide rail stock and locations for film and TV.

Wyvern Rail director Neil Ferguson-Lee said: "RailFilmLocations.biz continues to expand its facilities at Wirksworth. Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is moving toward opening its entire length to Duffield.

"This means the range of scenery and locations available will continue to expand, covering gritty, modern urban to picture postcard rural scenes."

Ecclesbourne Valley Railway has received high praise from the makers of Five Days.

Andy Morgan, the BBC's location manager, said: "Filming at Ecclesbourne Valley Railway is like having your own giant train set.

"All the staff understand the filming process and are willing to go that extra mile for you to get the perfect shot."

Stephan Pehrsson, the cinematographer on the series, said: "I had a great time filming on the train.

"The staff were very helpful and kept us all safe around the big machines.

"We did some great scenes there that would have been impossible to do anywhere else."

 

Just a reminder that the first episode of five will air in approx. 20 mins time!!