in 1988, hudson directed a 2-minute advert for british rail, a parody of the post office film unit's 25-minute documentary, "night mail", made in 1936. poet w. h. auden had written verse specifically to fit the original 1936 film's footage, which showed the enormous scale of br's daily operation and the structure of the 'sectorised' business. the opening sequence of hudson's british rail advert features the northbound travelling post office with auden's original verse, narrated by sir tom courtenay.