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Air Date:
4th
July 2008
These are the stories they tell...
A few weeks after Scott's outburst, Stephen decides that
now is the time to reveal the truth behind Sir Ralph's name...and the tragic story that follows... Stories from before the
second world war, and the tragedy of the war and its effects on the railways of Britain, and the loss of a brother are recounted
by Stephen, and finally, Scott sees, that the engine before him, is indeed his friend, and Sir Ralph Wedgwood...
Analysis:
Episode Ten had been in planning for months. It wasn't
known at the time, but it would be the last episode to be made by the BRWS team: the modules were over, a “pass”
had been accepted for the team members, the series had been met with rapturous applause at its unveiling to their individual
degrees, and now – it would end on a high note.
There were many different scenes filmed on several separate
sets: new buildings were also made to change the look of the set dramatically, and it was in the models that we found more
detail – the nameplates for Gadwall and Herring Gull were given close ups several times, and the liveries
were changed to reflect the time period of the second world war and thereafter. In another change from the norm, this episode
would be the first to be narrated, not by the 'narrator' (Simon) as such, but by Stephen the Holden B12, who would recount
the story in every epic detail.
There were more changes for this very special episode:
the title sequence made way for a special introduction, opening credits which were to the tune of the original “Dambusters
march” from the original “The Dambusters” film. This was an opportunity to use film that had not seen the
light of day (for example, Tavish pulling a goods train and Stephen acting as banker on the hill), and to have the
team's name appear at the start of an episode for the first time. The episode title screen was changed too, (the original
layout would reappear for Episode Eleven, but it was felt that in order to give the impression of a half hour special, the
episode needed that extra 'film' quality to it).
This would also be the first episode in which real footage
– in this case, of British Military aircraft in action – would be used to help tell a story. In homage to the
film that lent its theme music, several shots of “Dambuster” aircraft (Lancaster Bombers) are seen, taking
off or flying away. Not only that, but hundreds of photographs (used with full permission of course), were used to
build up the story further – it is never actually said in the episode which war it is, but of course it is the second
world war, and the true, bloody details of the conflict are given, right at the end, in the sombre aftermath of the Baedeker
bombing.
The story which Stephen recounts is entirely in black
and white – first and foremost, this helps to distinguish the 'present-day' from the 'past', in terms of filming, and
firmly puts Stephen's tale in the past. This was a distinction that needed to be made for the viewer in order to make full
sense of the scope of the story. Black and white sequences had been used before, but only for the opening “The London
and North Eastern railway...” opening sequence (which incidentally, did not appear in this episode). New models
are everywhere: the apple green Scott model (which had made a previous appearance in a trailer for Episode Eight),
the two garter blue A4s (Herring Gull and Gadwall), the apple green model of Stephen the Green Engine made its
final appearance in the series, and of course, the wartime black model of Stephen that proved surprisingly popular with viewers.
There were more models: Thompson the B1 made his first (non speaking) appearance, as did Holden the J83 tank engine.
Arthur reappears briefly in the yard sequences, and every one of the main characters is mentioned in the build up to the main
body of the episode.
The script had been debated for some time before it was
finalised for filming. The research done on the Baedeker bombings of York indicated that the locomotive 4469 (the hapless
Gadwall), had not been destroyed in the station, but in York's Motive Power Depot – indeed, all the evidence
pointed this way. The problems with setting the bombing in the MPD would be ten fold: firstly, it would require that both
Herring Gull and Stephen were present at Gadwall's “death”, and this would be more distressing in
terms of viewing than Gadwall as Sir Ralph Wedgwood 'dying' alone. Secondly, York's MPD is, like its station, very
distinctive, and it was felt that it would be easier to recreate the station bombing than the MPD – which would also
require the damaging of more than one model locomotive (a neighbouring B16 was destroyed in the same blast), and
thus we would have to acknowledge the other locomotive – which was unnecessary to the script. This presented something
of a dilemma: re-write history to suit the episode's needs? It went against everything we had done before.
However, several books and articles were found which
firmly placed the bombing of the “Night Scotsman”, hauled by 4469, in the station, at platform nine –
and we decided to go against the majority view and use these articles and books as a reference to our story. Therefore, the
actual bombing in the story is not the actual bombing itself: 4469 was destroyed, separately to the “Night Scotsman”
(which was indeed at platform nine, and damaged badly), in the MPD in reality.
The actual station bombing was exceedingly difficult
to shoot – the station was actually 'blown up' using various powders and “snaps” (tiny explosive charges
used for film making), and the fact that very little of the actual explosions can be seen in the shots is down to the
editing. Shots of the model of 4469 being destroyed had indeed been filmed, but it was felt that, as with the crash sequence
in Episode Six, this was going too far to present to a young audience, and thus the bombing of the station was cut down, and
the damage implied more than actually seen.
It was a chance editing session with the music director
of the series, Fiona Grey-Staff, that the music “Danny Boy” (this version, sung by Carly Simon),
was added to the bombing sequence, which had been intended originally to be silent, save for the sounds of the explosions
and the air raid sirens. This made the sequence so much more powerful, particularly with the close up of the battered nameplate
at the end, that by the end of the month, hundreds of emails were flooding in, saying how beautiful, and sad it was.
The end of the episode brought with it the end of the
first story arc in the series – the back story to Sir Ralph had been told, finally, explaining his behaviour in Episode
Five, his sadness in Episode six, and his erratic and timid behaviour in episodes Eight and Nine. The series had proved, once
again, that its characters were more than just faces on a screen – they had real, powerful emotions, with strong and
just reasons behind them.
Ultimately, the Episode's drawback came in the limitations
of Youtube – the account used by the team was allowed a maximum of ten minutes per video, so the episode came in four
parts (and incidentally, is the longest episode to date, at the time of writing). The episode was well received, but was not
as popular as the team had hoped for – it was by no means a flop, but it was not an outstanding success, which sadly
does not reflect the hundreds of man hours that went into scripting, filming, editing and lastly, sculpting such an emotive
piece of film.
At the end of the episode, a trailer for the anniversary
episode was screened – and this trailer would introduce one of the new order – Gronk, the class 08 diesel shunter,
and reintroduce an old friend and a very popular character – a certain Hawksworth pannier tank...!
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