If you have been following the ITV drama Victoria you may well have realised by now that the railway scenes in episode 7, The Engine of Change, were filmed on the Mountsorrel Railway.
Filming took place over two days early in May. The production company, Mammoth Screen, used a replica of George Stephenson’s Planet (built by the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry). Planet was to be stored overnight in our railway museum after the first day of filming.
The volunteers were told that Planet would be arriving at our railway museum some time between 5 and 9 pm. To be sure we didn’t miss the loco many arrived at 5. From the picnic area on the Nunckley Trail you could see smoke and steam in the distance, however each time the train appeared to be on its way it promptly stopped and returned to its starting point.
After two hours of patient waiting we caught a glimpse of Planet and a few carriages appearing around the bend in the distance. What steamed past the spectators on the trail was Planet complete with film crew and actors!
Having relocated to Nunckley platform the volunteers were treated over the next hour to not one arrival but four, as each shot was repeated first focussing on Prince Albert then Sir Robert.
Finally, after over three hours, Planet arrived for its overnight stay.
Why tell you now? Well as part of the agreement with the production company, Mammoth Screen, we agreed not to release any of our images until after the last episode of Victoria had been screened.
We have put together a short video of our evening which you can watch at https://youtu.be/YkgWTGEgXoU
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