Earlier this year, an official sequel to 1970’s The Railway Children was announced and now the trailer has arrived full steam ahead. Original Bobbie star Jenny Agutter is back in this first look at The Railway Children Return. The new film picks up almost 40 years after the events of the first movie and takes place during World War II.
According to the synopsis, The Railway Children Return “will take audiences on an exciting and heart-warming journey, in which a new group of children are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during World War 2, where they encounter a young soldier, who like them, is far away from home…”
Jenny, now 68-years-old, was just 18 when the original film was released in 1970, having first starred as Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Waterbury in the BBC’s TV version two years prior.
The upcoming sequel, which is set for cinematic release in 2022, co-stars Sheridan Smith and Tom Courtenay.
While the new generation of Railway Children includes The Crown and Rogue One’s Beau Gadsdon, KJ Aikens, Eden Hamilton, Austin Haynes and Zac Cudby.
READ MORE: The original Railway Children: Where are they now?
The Railway Children Return has a BAFTA-winning team behind it having been written by Danny Brocklehurst, based on a treatment by producer Jemma Rodgers.
While Morgan Matthews is directing the film which has been shot in key Yorkshire locations from the original movie.
These include Haworth, The Brontë Parsonage, Oakworth station and the iconic railways from the 1970 classic, which are all part of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
Given the Edwardian setting swapping for World War II, it looks like The Railway Children Return is following in the footsteps of Mary Poppins Returns, which also had a half-century gap between film releases.
The Railway Children known as Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis become friends with a person known as The Old Gentleman, who often took the 9:15 train from near their home.
It turns out it was he who went on to help prove their father’s innocence and reunite the family.
Meanwhile, the story also saw them taking care of a Russian exile called Mr Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family.
While they also took care of Jim, the grandson of The Old Gentleman, who broke his leg in a tunnel.
