Last night's TV reviewed: The Passengers That Took On The Train Line and Ackley Bridge
BBC The Passengers That Took On The Train Line (BBC2)
This Ealing film, about doughty villagers defending a tiny branch railway from extinction, came out ten years before the 1963 Beeching Report, in which many such rail lines did indeed bite the dust. Like so many Ealing classics, it’s about a way of life under threat, and a feisty community refusing to lie down and take it. If only real life was that simple. The Passengers That Took On The Train Line (BBC2), despite the ungrammatical title, did a good job of whipping up some Ealing spirit in Kent. Presenter Jacques Peretti talked to fed-up commuters whose daily trips to and from London were a litany of delays, overcrowding, price hikes and corporate indifference. Many of us faced with a cold bowl of soup in a restaurant, a moronic letter from the local council (even an ungrammatical programme title), feel we could do the job better.
What if, Jacques wondered, the customers of Southeastern trains really could? While it’s inspiring to see people finding a common cause and working together, this was essentially a non-story. Despite the talents and tireless energy of the new group, the Department of Transport made it clear that they’d never had a rat’s chance of getting their tender considered. Only someone with an army of bid writers and lawyers ever could meaning that only big, corporate groups with an interest in profit, not people, win rail franchises. Along the route of this ultimately depressing journey, though, many oddities came to light. Know why the Germans and Swiss have such great train services? It’s because they own shares in ours and they scoop up the dividends that could be invested here. Know how Network Rail, owned by us, the people, is able to rent out its tracks to private companies at low tariffs?
The best TV for 2017 Tue, March 28, 2017 The Cuckoo's Calling, Ripper Street, Victoria and more. Here's the best TV coming your way in 2017. Play slideshow BBC 1 of 22 Doctor Who - The 10th series of the sci-fi series will air on 15th April
We, the people, make up the shortfall from our taxes. As almost every train trip in the UK reminds us, there’s plenty to get cross about. As this programme proved though, we can get as cross as we like because this ain’t Ealing. Old as they are now those films share something with modern TV shows like Shameless, No Offence and the promising school-based Ackley Bridge (C4). Despite ugly surroundings, strong language and gritty storylines, what shines through is warmth, people never losing their humour and their need for one another. After their falling-out last week, best pals Nasreen and Missy ignored each other en route to school, Nasreen (Amy-Leigh Hickman) adopting the black headscarf of her Muslim classmates.