A Box of Delights, 40 years on at the SVR
Arley’s assistant station manager Catherine Martin found herself caught up in something very exciting last year – when the BBC came to film a special documentary about a children’s TV series, made 40 years ago. Here’s her account:
When our visitor engagement manager Lewis Maddox asked me if I could volunteer for an extra day, little did he know he would be making me a very happy person! The work was to be Point Contact for a film crew, ensuring safety whilst on the Railway, escorting and assisting them for the day.
The Railway does a lot of this sort of work, so nothing particularly new in this request – as the eagle eyed amongst you will have seen, the SVR has been in many TV productions and films over the years.
This time however was something very special for me, as they were making a film marking the 40th anniversary of the hugely successful children’s programme, The Box of Delights. The new film, Time and Tide: Making The Box of Delights follows the original star, Devin Stanfield, who played Kay Harker and Renny Rye, the producer, as they revisit many of the film locations, 40 years on.
Arrangements were made for what the film crew required, and I travelled to Highley to meet Devin, Renny, Chris Chapman (the documentary producer/director) and the crew.
We first filmed a sequence on the train between Highley and Arley, showing off the beautiful scenery along the route. Then we spent the next few hours at Arley Station filming, as Arley featured in quite a number of the original scenes 40 years before. I’m assistant station master at Arley, and it was lovely to watch the various segments of filming. It caused quite a bit of excitement amongst unsuspecting passengers and my staff!
Towards the end of filming, Devin suddenly produced a rather special prop from the original programme – the actual ‘Box of Delights’. As I had watched the original as a very young child (and many times over subsequent years) this was a real pleasure. I was thrilled when Devin gave me the box to look after as can be seen in the photograph! Sadly, the magic in the box didn’t work on this occasion!
By the end of the day the film crew were delighted with what they had done, alongside the use of a drone for additional footage, and were very grateful to the SVR for our help.
Fast forward to November 2024, and I received an invite to a drinks party in London and to the premiere of Time and Tide: Making The Box of Delights. It was wonderful to see the people I’d helped during filming at the SVR, and to meet some of the other surviving cast from the 1984 programme, many of whom also appear in this new film.
The film opens with magnificent aerial scenes on the SVR, really showing off the beauty of the Valley. It then includes many of the sequences filmed on location on the train and at Arley, before moving on to other locations used in the original.
For anyone who is a fan of The Box of Delights this new film is a must-see. It also has interesting interviews, funny stories and reveals some of the tricks of the trade from the world of TV and film. It shows off the SVR for the beautiful scenery, our heritage trains and our lovingly preserved Arley station.
It is fair to say I rather enjoyed this particular work, and representing the SVR is always a pleasure as a volunteer. It is also great to see yet another starring role for our Railway, and shows some of the other activities we get up to! Enjoy the film!
The Box of Delights original six-part series is available to stream on BBC iPlayer, and Time and Tide: the making of The Box of Delights is on a BBC DVD released to commemorate the series’ 40th anniversary.
