The Railway Children

Only the hard-hearted could deny the lovability and charm of Lionel Jeffries's tremendous 1970 version of E Nesbit's children's classic The Railway Children, now on re-release. Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary F Warren play the Waterbury children who, when their beloved papa is wrongfully imprisoned for espionage, must take up residence in a little country cottage in Yorkshire, where there will be buns for tea as and when their authoress mother (Dinah Sheridan) sells a story. The depictions of being "poor" are quaint, given their apparent comfort and ability to mobilise assistance from the wealthy and well-connected. No matter. It all slips down very nicely; Bernard Cribbins is terrific as railwayman Perks, and Jeffries' final scene – in which Iain Cuthbertson, playing the father, materialises on the station platform wreathed in steam – is justly celebrated.