Doctor Who Vs. The Railway Children

Shown on BBC1 today, this much

loved period drama was based on

the classic children's novel by

socialist writer and poet Edith

Nesbit (1858-1924).

Published in 1906, the story

focuses on three Edwardian

siblings who embark on a series of adventures when they are

forced to move to rural Yorkshire

(after their father is wrongly

accused of treason).

The story has been adapted four

times by the BBC (in 1951, 1957

and 1958), then by Carlton TV in 2000. The Corporation's 1968

adaptation starred Jenny Agutter

who was later cast in this cine-

matic remount, which returned to UK cinemas last summer.

A BBC radio play and a stage

musical followed in 1991 and 2005, and StudioCanal's sequel, The

Railway Children Return also opened in 2022.

Scripted and directed by Lionel Jeffries, the film was released to

great acclaim in 1970, and starred Bernard Cribbins (pictured

as Perks) and eight other Doctor Who cast connections:

• Agutter (Bobbie here & The Railway Children Return; Mrs. Waterbury for ITV) voiced Sekhmet for Big Finish's The Bride of Peladon (2008)
• Dinah [Nadyejda Ginsburg] Sheridan (Mrs. Waterbury) was Chancellor Flavia in The Five Doctors
• William Mervyn [Pickwoad] (Old Gentleman) was Sir Charles Summer in The War Machines
• Iain Cuthbertson (Charles Waterbury) was Garron in The Ribos Operation
• Erik Chitty (Photographer) was Charles Preslin in (episode 1 of) The Massacre, and Co-ordinator Engin in The Deadly Assassin
• Dominic Allan (CID Man) was a Policeman in The Invasion (5)
• Richard [Leeper McClelland] Leech (Doctor) was Gatherer Hade in The Sun Makers
• Peter Russell [born Ellis] (Policeman) was Eldred in The Time Meddler

The BBC's eight-part series of 1957 featured Anneke

Wills (as Bobbie), and seven other Doctor Who links:

• Cavan Kendall (Peter) and Ivor Salter (Driver) both later appeared in The Myth Makers, as Achilles and Odysseus respectively - Salter was also Morok Commander in The Space Museum, and Sergeant Markham in Black Orchid
• John Baskcomb (Blacksmith) was Rossini in Terror of the Autons
• Alan Curtis (Farmhand) was Major Green in The War Machines
• Ysanne Churchman (Ruth) provided the voice of Alpha Centauri for both Peladon adventures and Empress of Mars, and voiced the titular arachnids for Planet of the Spiders
• Leonard Kingston (Extea) was a Militiaman in The Smugglers (4)
• Peter Sargent was also film cameraman on The Power of the Daleks, The Curse of Peladon (1) and The Sea Devils

The seven-part version of 1968 (placed 96th in the BFI's

100 Greatest British Television Programmes poll of 2000)

was directed by Julia Smith and starred another eight

Doctor Who guest actors:

• Gordon Gostelow (Perks) was Milo Clancey in The Space Pirates
• John Ringham (Dr. Forrest) was Tlotoxl in The Aztecs, Josiah Blake in The Smugglers, and Ashe in Colony in Space
• Frederick Treves (Father) was Lieutenant Brotadac in Meglos
• Mary Healey (Ruth) was a Killjoy in The Happiness Patrol (1)
• Bart Allison (Signalman) was Maximus Pettulian in The Romans (1)
• [William Aldred] Roy Denton (Valuer) was a Tribesman in 100,000 BC (2), and Extra in The Silurians (6)
• Colin Douglas (Farmer) was Donald Bruce in The Enemy of the World, and Reuben in Horror of Fang Rock
• Will Stampe (Driver) was the First Man in The Massacre (3)

Agutter even appeared in ITV's dramatisation (now as Bobbie's

mother), opposite Sir Richard Attenborough, Geoffrey Beevers 

and these seven further Doctor Who cast and crew links:

• director Catherine Morshead and writer Simon Nye both later held the same posts on Amy's Choice, the former also directed The Lodger
• Howard Burden was also costume designer on thirty adventures (from Asylum of the Daleks to Last Christmas)
• Jemima Rooper (Bobbie) voiced Izzy Sinclair for The Company of Friends (2009), and Mithia for The Time War 4 (2020)
• David Bamber (Dr. Forrest) was Captain Quell in Mummy on the Orient Express, and voiced Emperor Constantine for The Council of Nicaea (2005), and Colonel Ulrik and Whitmore for The Four Doctors (2010)
• JJ Field (Jim) voiced David McCallister for Blue Forgotten Planet (2009)
• Amanda Walker (Mrs. Ransome) was Old Ruby in 73 Yards