The Railway Children Return

{{Short description|2022 film sequel directed by Morgan Matthews}} {{Use British English|date=July 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox film | name = The Railway Children Return | image = The Railway Children Return poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Morgan Matthews (filmmaker)|Morgan Matthews]] | producer = Jemma Rodgers | writer = [[Danny Brocklehurst]] | based_on = {{Based on|''[[The Railway Children]]''|[[E. Nesbit]]}} | starring = {{plainlist| * [[Jenny Agutter]] * [[Tom Courtenay]] * [[Sheridan Smith]] }} | music = {{plainlist| * Edward Farmer * [[Martin Phipps]] }} | cinematography = Kit Fraser | editing = Rebecca Lloyd | studio = | distributor = [[StudioCanal UK|StudioCanal]] | released = {{Film date|df=yes|2022|07|15}} (United Kingdom) | runtime = 98 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = | gross = $4.2 million<ref name="BoxOffice"/> }}

'''''The Railway Children Return''''', known as '''''Railway Children''''' in the US,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/movies/films-this-fall.html|title=159 Films, for Every Taste, Coming This Fall|first=Ben|last=Kenigsberg|work=The New York Times |date=8 September 2022|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstshowing.net/2022/new-us-trailer-for-railway-children-remake-of-a-uk-wwii-classic/|title=New US Trailer for 'Railway Children' Remake of a UK WWII Classic | FirstShowing.net|website=www.firstshowing.net|date=18 August 2022 }}</ref> is a 2022 [[family film|family]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama]] film directed by [[Morgan Matthews (filmmaker)|Morgan Matthews]] and written by [[Danny Brocklehurst]]. It is a sequel to the 1970 film ''[[The Railway Children (1970 film)|The Railway Children]]'', itself based on the [[E. Nesbit]] [[The Railway Children|novel of the same name]]. The film stars [[Jenny Agutter]], [[Sheridan Smith]], [[Tom Courtenay]] and [[John Bradley (English actor)|John Bradley]]. It was released in the United Kingdom on 15 July 2022 by [[StudioCanal UK|StudioCanal]].

==Plot== It is 1944, and a [[The Blitz|fresh wave of bombings fall on Britain]] during the [[Second World War]]. 14-year-old Lily Watts and her younger siblings, Pattie and Ted are evacuated from [[Manchester]] to the village of [[Oakworth]] in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], where they are greeted by Bobbie Waterbury, her schoolmistress daughter Annie and her son Thomas. All the children are selected to be given homes by the locals but due to a request from officials not to split siblings up, the Watts trio are left. When nobody else takes them, Bobbie welcomes them into their home. The siblings quickly bond with Thomas. The [[US Army]] has a base in the area, and there is a disturbance on their first evening. As they explore their new surroundings, the children are set upon by a group of local children not happy with their presence and Thomas welcomes them to his hideout in an old [[brake van]] by the railway station.

One day, Annie receives bad news about her husband who is away fighting in the war, reminding her of the deaths of Bobbie's husband and brother in the [[First World War]]. The children give her some space and play hide and seek at the station. Whilst there, they find an [[African-American]] soldier named Abe McCarthy in their hideout with an injured leg. He claims to be on a secret mission and that he has to remain hidden. That evening a lone enemy aircraft drops a bomb on the town cemetery, causing Lily to fall as she brings a first aid kit and other supplies to Abe. He rescues her and reveals he joined the Army to avenge his brother who was killed in combat, but details about his story leaves her suspicious. The next day, white [[Military Police Corps (United States)|American Military Police]] arrive at the school looking for Abe and Lily learns that he is a deserter. When she confronts him about it, Abe reveals that he is actually the same age as Lily and that he is trying to return home after seeing how the US Army treats his fellow black soldiers who are often beaten by the Military Police, despite the town's inhabitants refusing the US authorities' request to impose a [[Racial segregation|colour bar]] in the local [[pub]].{{efn|The writers drew on real-life incidents at [[Battle of Bamber Bridge|Bamber Bridge]] and [[Launceston, Cornwall#Later history|Launceston]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jul/09/the-railway-children-return-film-explores-black-gi-segregation-in-40s-britain|first=Alna|last=Khan|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=9 July 2022|title=Railway Children reboot: film explores black GI segregation in 40s Britain}}</ref>}} She agrees to help him escape.

When Lily tells the others and plans to hide Abe at the house, Thomas initially insists they tell the truth to the grown-ups. Lily stops this idea immediately, challenging Thomas for his ignorance of the realities of the world, and revealing that their father was also killed in combat. Thomas agrees to let Abe stay in the large storeroom next door to his bedroom. That evening, the family are visited by Walter, the widowed husband to Bobbie's sister Phyllis. The next day, Lily escorts Abe down to the station to catch a train to [[Liverpool]] and Thomas joins them to create a distraction so they can get on the train unnoticed. In doing so he is caught by the local police, who inform the US Military Police, who in turn stop and search the train further up the line. Abe and Lily are handcuffed, taken to the base and then put aboard a US Army supply train, also carrying senior officers.

When confronted on the matter by Thomas, Annie reveals that his father's plane was shot down but that he is still alive in a prisoner-of-war camp. After he reveals everything to Walter, his uncle informs him about the American supply train, which he has found out about by telephoning his employer, the [[War Office]]. Thomas rallies Pattie, Ted and the rest of the local and evacuee children to create banners warning the train to stop, just as Bobbie and her siblings had done forty years earlier. The children successfully stop the train and denounce the actions of the Americans. Abe explains the truth to the most senior general, also an African-American, who reveals that he too had enlisted underage and orders Abe to be released. After staying with the family for a few days, Abe leaves for home, promising to write to Lily before he goes. The siblings return to their mother three months later, whilst Thomas's father returns home after [[VE Day]].

==Cast== {{castlist| * [[Beau Gadsdon]] as Lily Watts * [[Austin Haynes (actor)|Austin Haynes]] as Thomas * Eden Hamilton as Pattie Watts * Zac Cudby<ref>{{cite news |editor1-last=Mitchinson|editor1-first=James |title=back on track; first glimpse of Railway Children sequel |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=25 June 2021 |page=2|issn=0963-1496}}</ref> as Ted Watts * KJ Aikens as Abraham "Abe" McCarthy * [[Jenny Agutter]] as Roberta "Bobbie" Waterbury.{{efn|Agutter is the only returning cast member of the original film,<ref name="YP">{{cite news |last1=Hyde |first1=Nathan |title=Agutter to return in sequel to Railway Children |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=7 May 2021 |page=3|issn=0963-1496}}</ref> playing a grown-up version of the same character.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lawrence |first1=Ben |title=Welcome back to the Railway Children |work=The Daily Telegraph |issue=51,623 |date=7 May 2021 |page=26|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>}} * [[Tom Courtenay]] as Uncle Walter * [[Sheridan Smith]] as Annie * [[Jessica Baglow]] as Angela * [[John Bradley (English actor)|John Bradley]] as Richard Perks{{efn|He has been established in interviews as the grandson of Albert Perks from the original film, though this is not explicitly mentioned in the film itself. It was planned to have Albert return played by the original actor [[Bernard Cribbins]], but this proved impossible.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Patrick|last=Cremona|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/bernard-cribbins-appear-the-railway-children-return-exclusive-newsupdate/|title=Bernard Cribbins originally set to be in The Railway Children Return|date=12 July 2022|work=[[Radio Times]]}}</ref>}} * [[Hugh Quarshie]] as General Harrison * [[Neil Hurst]] as Teacher<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cremona |first1=Patrick |title=The Railway Children Return "pays real homage to the original film" |url=https://radiotimes.com/movies/the-railway-children-return-homage-original-exclusive-newsupdate/ |access-date=17 July 2022 |work=radiotimes.com |date=14 July 2022}}</ref> * Micky Williams as Children's Dad * Joseph Richards as Georgie Duckworth }}

==Production== [[File:Sheridan Smith & Jenny Agutter.jpg|thumb|333x333px|Sheridan Smith & Jenny Agutter at the press launch for the film at Oakworth Station, prior to the world premiere of the film at Keighley]] ''The Railway Children Return'' was announced on 6 May 2021.<ref name="YP"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cremona |first1=Patrick |title=The Railway Children sequel announced with Jenny Agutter to star alongside Sheridan Smith and Tom Courtenay |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-railway-children-sequel-announced-newsupdate/ |website=radiotimes.com |access-date=7 May 2021}}</ref> Like its predecessor film, scenes were shot in and around the countryside of the [[Keighley and Worth Valley Railway]] in [[West Yorkshire]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ramachandran |first1=Naman |title='The Railway Children,' All-Time U.K. Children's Classic, Gets Sequel From Studiocanal |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/global/the-railway-children-sequel-studiocanal-1234967668/ |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=Variety |date=6 May 2021}}</ref> with filming beginning on 10 May 2021<ref>{{cite news |editor1-last=Mitchinson |editor1-first=James |title=Railway Children sequel will put 'line back on map' |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=11 May 2021 |page=3|issn=0963-1496}}</ref> and taking between six and eight weeks.<ref>{{cite news |editor1-last=Mitchinson |editor1-first=James |title=Lights, cameras, Oakworth: shots of the new Railway Children |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=12 May 2021 |page=7|issn=0963-1496}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jenny Agutter to reprise Railway Children role in film sequel |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57007117 |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=BBC News |date=6 May 2021}}</ref>

===Steam Locomotives=== Three steam locomotives are predominantly used throughout the film; 5820 USA Transportation Corp, Class [[USATC S160 Class|S160]] (affectionately known as Big Jim), 43924 [[LMS Fowler Class 4F|LMS Class 4F]] and [[LMS Jubilee Class 5596 Bahamas|45596 "Bahamas"]] [[LMS Jubilee Class]]. 78022 [[BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0]] also makes a very brief appearance in the film. At the time of filming, "Bahamas" was in [[British Railways]] green livery and the overlaid, correct LMS decals (BR was only formed in 1948) can be easily observed on the tender. Its BR number was also changed from 45596 to the correct 5596 which was used when the engine worked for the LMS. 43924 which was also in British Railways identity and wore plain black livery had its BR crest overlaid with LMS decals and its 43924 number changed to 3924. To celebrate the film's release, [[Hornby Railways]] has produced a OO scale model of 43924 LMS Class 4F in special packaging. <gallery> S160 'Big Jim' 5820 on the run round loop at Oxenhope at the KWVR.jpg|5820 Big Jim LMS 4F 43924 at Oxenhope on the run round loop at the KWVR.jpg|43924 Bahamas reversing of Tyseley's turntable.jpg|45596 Bahamas File:Hugh llewelyn 78022 (7850847762).jpg|78022 </gallery>

==Reception== ===Box office===

''The Railway Children Return'' grossed $4,287,140.<ref name="BoxOffice">{{cite web |title=The Railway Children Return (2022)|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt14592998/news/?ref_=bo_tt_tab#tabs|website=boxofficemojo.com |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref>

===Critical response===

On the [[review aggregation]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 59% based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The website's critics' consensus reads, "Fueled by nostalgia, ''Railway Children'' reaches its destination in middling yet amiable fashion."<ref>{{cite web |title=Railway Children (2022)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/railway_children_2022|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=7 October 2022}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a [[weighted average]] score of 54 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web|title=Reviews for Railway Children (2022)|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/railway-children|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=7 October 2022}}</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title}} * {{Metacritic film}} *[https://www.studiocanal.com/news/studiocanal-announce-principal-photography-and-cast-of-the-railway-children-return/ STUDIOCANAL news page]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Railway Children Return, The}} [[Category:2022 films]] [[Category:British drama films]] [[Category:Films set in 1944]] [[Category:Films about racism in the United States]] [[Category:Films about the United States Army]] [[Category:Films set in Yorkshire]] [[Category:Films shot in Yorkshire]] [[Category:Keighley and Worth Valley Railway]] [[Category:Rail transport films]]  [[Category:2022 English-language films]] [[Category:African Americans in World War II|*]] [[Category:2022 British films]] [[Category:Films scored by Martin Phipps]] [[Category:English-language drama films]]