Stars of silver screen roll in to railway for Agatha Christie film

Stars of silver screen roll in to railway for Agatha Christie film

19 December 2018

A NEW murder mystery film featuring Downpatrick and County Down Railway in its glorious steam age will be a highlight of Channel 5’s Christmas schedule.

The full-sized heritage mainline railway is fast becoming a sought-after location for makers of national period programmes.

The Truth of Murder will be broadcast on Sunday evening as hundreds of thousands of viewers will see Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) as it was in its heyday.

The Georgian-period Grey Abbey House, which is over 400 years old, provides a pivotal setting for most of the film’s action.

It’s the second primetime drama in which the railway has featured — the popular Mrs Wilson spy drama on BBC1 was filmed there earlier in May.

Robert Gardiner, chairman of DCDR, said: “We’re thrilled to be back on our TV screens across the UK again with another major drama filmed at the DCDR. 

“This is one of several filming projects that the DCDR has been involved with just this year which showcases the town and area to a wide audience. 

“We love having film producers down and the fact that production companies keep coming back again and again demonstrates the great attraction we have here in Downpatrick — with the ability to showcase periods from the 19th century right up to the 1990s. 

“We’ve also heard on the quiet that the presence of our heritage railway was a key factor that brought the production to Northern Ireland instead of somewhere else.”

The Truth of Murder fuses together a fictional story inspired by two real-life events — the 11-day disappearance of mystery writer Agatha Christie in 1926 and the unsolved murder of Florence Nightingale’s god daughter, Florence Nightingale Shore.

Christie went missing for 11 days and on her return sensationally claimed that she had amnesia of the entire event, sparking speculation and debate which continues to this day as to what happened.

The film takes a look at what might have happened if the two events had overlapped in a gripping ‘whodunnit’.

Produced by Endemol, the 95-minute long film stars Irish actress Ruth Bradley, from Humans and RTE’s Rebellion, who plays Agatha Christie; Pippa Haywood, from Green Wing and Bodyguard, who plays Florence Nightingale Shore’s partner Mabel; Black Adder star Tim McInnerny; Ralph Lineson from Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, and Blake Harrison from The Inbetweeners.

Volunteers from Downpatrick and Co Down Railway helped to facilitate the filming earlier in October, including firing up several steam engines and moving carriages to give the film the authencity it required.

Location manager Brenda Gough said that the painstaking restoration work which has been carried out by volunteers made the selection 

of the station as a location an obvious one .

“Apart from Down Railway having the only authentic and working steam railway, the volunteers here are so helpful and the work that they produces is exceptional. We could not have paid someone to produce this in a props department,” she said.

“This is a labour of love and it’s clear to see here that the restoration and maintenance work is done with love and attention.

“The volunteers also have the knowledge to run the trains and the knowledge of the period to help keep us right.”

She added: “The film is stunning. It will be a beautiful piece, it will be exceptional.”

Several carriages dating from 1900 will be featured in the film, as well as the ticket foyer which was expertly repainted to replicate the period by the production company — much to the delight of the railway conservationists.

The production company will gift several film still photographs, taken by Game of Thrones official photographer Helen Sloan, to the railway museum for future visitors to enjoy.

The volunteers involved were museum curator Neil Hamilton, Chris Johnston and Mike Beckett.

Mr Beckett said: “This is very exciting for us. There were vintage cars out at the front of the station, including an Austin Seven with a starting handle at the front and you might get the odd famous person walking past and they feed you well, which is always a bonus.”

Downpatrick railway is becoming known as a film location as the BBC’s Woman In White was filmed in Downpatrick last year.

Curator Neil said that two other productions were filmed here this year — the BBC NI production The Last Post as well as Mrs Wilson.

He added: “It’s amazing to see after 20 years and more we have managed to recreate a flavour of what it was like.”

“Our message to the rest of the TV and film production industry is that Down Railway is open for business now and in the future. There are always things in the pipeline.”

The Truth of Murder airs on Sunday at 9pm on Channel 5.