Channel 5 documentary, 'The Railway: First Great Western'

[whole diary]

[BBM]

Shame about the 180 with no air con presumably on the 17:18 a few weeks back

Yes it was, I was on that train, and I also appeared briefly in shot on last night's programme... 

[ChrisB]

On the whole, I thought it good.

Continuity problems galore - some alluded to already, but what about the shots of the overcrowded 180 at PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) that pulled out looking very much like an HST^▸ (High Speed Train)?!

Interesting that, on twitter, employees thought it a poor program while the punters thought it reasonable to good. Unfortunately, watching footage of a good day on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would be quite boring, hence the editors will always plump for the problematic days as it makes for a more interesting programme, especially when they feature staff dealing well with it....

[trainer]

Interesting that, on twitter, employees thought it a poor program while the punters thought it reasonable to good. Unfortunately, watching footage of a good day on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would be quite boring, hence the editors will always plump for the problematic days as it makes for a more interesting programme, especially when they feature staff dealing well with it....

I think the staff came out extremely well: a credit to their own integrity and that of the company.  It is true though that most tv is made interesting by conflict, whether drama or 'reality' (not really) televison.  The editing is the crucial thing and I'm afraid the people who came out worst were the great travelling public: moaning, drunk, angry, ill-prepared.  We know that's not true for most as well, but it grabs the viewer. 

[Network SouthEast]

Others have already said, but the only things that wound me up were the repeated shots from the 180 cab going backwards/forwards between Royal Oak and Paddington and trains going forward/reversing when it would have been the other way around. I suspect this is because the production company don't have much in the way of library footage, although I find this a surprise because they've had crews everywhere over the last few months.

[Super Guard]

I quite enjoyed it, I understand the continuity issues would niggle those who "know" better, although I guess to your average viewer, most of them wouldn't have been noticed.

Those annoyed by the adverts etc, may I suggest if you have the technology, download it via Sky* On Demand, as it was a clean 44 minutes with the adverts removed  .

*Other on-demand platforms are available.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Programme one was to me very interesting and I imagine FGW^▸ (First Great Western) managaement would have been pleased with it.
There are however continuity erros in moany TV programmes, factual or fiction, but most people do not spot them. Many of the contributors to this forum are very knowledgeable and so they spot them so please do not get too upset.

[Red Squirrel]

...There are however continuity erros in moany TV programmes...

...and spolling errors in moany posts! Something I am all-to-often guilty of myself.

[Rhydgaled]

Others have already said, but the only things that wound me up were the repeated shots from the 180 cab going backwards/forwards between Royal Oak and Paddington and trains going forward/reversing when it would have been the other way around. I suspect this is because the production company don't have much in the way of library footage, although I find this a surprise because they've had crews everywhere over the last few months.

I think I saw one of the class 43 powercars with HP advertising stickers all over it, which must be new rather than library footage.

Shame about the 180 with no air con presumably on the 17:18 a few weeks back, just about kept with that bit after shots of about 5 other trains.

I wasn't able to decide whether the train with the air-con fault was an IC125 or a class 180, since they kept cutting between the 180 and shots of other trains in the station.

[Network SouthEast]

Others have already said, but the only things that wound me up were the repeated shots from the 180 cab going backwards/forwards between Royal Oak and Paddington and trains going forward/reversing when it would have been the other way around. I suspect this is because the production company don't have much in the way of library footage, although I find this a surprise because they've had crews everywhere over the last few months.

I think I saw one of the class 43 powercars with HP advertising stickers all over it, which must be new rather than library footage.

I said they don't have much in the way of library footage, not did!

[ChrisB]

Re Spoilers - don't read the thread if you don't want to know before you watch!

Why should the rest of us have to await your catch-up?.....:-)

[Chris from Nailsea]

A rather amusing review, from the Guardian:

The Railway: First Great Western

It's obvious what's wrong with our rail network ^ the passengers


Stop lipping her ^ train manager Jody Edwards in The Railway: First Great Western. Photograph: Channel 5

Oh no! Cows on the track! And drunks on the train! If only it was the other way round. Then, you see, we'd have docile passengers who wouldn't get trollied, dodge fares and block the toilet. Plus, if we harnessed bovine methane somehow to power the railways, trains would have a minimal carbon hoofprint.

In this happier world, expresses could speed on, slaying intrusive local wildlife without fear of Shami Chakrabarti launching boring human rights suits. A cull of drunks, not badgers, is what Britain demands in 2013.

The problem with our rail network isn't the rolling stock, ticket pricing structures or track. It's you. If you stayed home, trains would be tickety boo. So, at least, I now believe, having watched The Railway: First Great Western (Channel 5).

"It's taken me longer to get here from Reading than it took me to fly from Montpellier," brayed one passenger to Paddington's duty manager Simon who, incredibly, affected to care. Maria, who is Paddington's ^ I love this ^ welcome ambassador (yeah, and I'm Birmingham New Street's greetings tsar) should have little pots of bear marmalade to give to those who are nice to her. She should also have water cannon for middle-class complainants whose bleats imply a second home in Languedoc-Roussillon, when she's dealing with the network-neutralising consequences of little twerps setting fire to the track outside Swindon. "He mentioned Montpellier!" "Spray the ponce!" Too much? Perhaps.

Hell, as Sartre failed to realise, isn't so much other people as other people on Saturday's 20.45 from Paddington to Swansea. Stop hiding in big suitcases to evade your fare! Stop lipping train manager Jody Edwards, who is, insanely, the only person on duty in this mobile circle of hell (the driver, you'd hope, notwithstanding). Take your rubbish home, Sloberella! Thank you for choosing First Great Western and have a lovely weekend, human slime.

There was too much of the engineer who nightly extracts fecal matter from a loco's infernal underbelly before putting the train back in service. Hours later he repeats his Sisyphean task. They say Britain is broken. Not so: while you sleep it is being fixed so you can screw it over anew during your waking hours.

What happened to the romance of the railways? It got shunted into a museum. It got frozen like a Grecian urn on that Blur album cover. In Sherlock last year, Russell Tovey asked Benedict Cumberbatch how he inferred from the stain on his cuff that he'd had a disappointing breakfast on the train. Is there any other kind, the master sleuth retorted.

[JayMac]

"Birmingham New Street's greetings tsar" Brilliant!

I did a similar job many moons ago at Bristol Temple Meads. Said on my badge - "Customer Service Assistant"

"Bristol Temple Meads' Salutation F^hrer" wouldn't fit on the badge.

[Super Guard]

I seem to remember on "Inside Gatwick" that was on Sky, the customer service staff in the airport were also called "Ambassadors".  I think a similar role was created for the Olympics.

"It's taken me longer to get here from Reading than it took me to fly from Montpellier," brayed one passenger to Paddington's duty manager Simon who, incredibly, affected to care.

He didn't encounter the Paddington DSM, at all, he was at Reading... .

[plymothian]

Just caught up on Demand5 (sans adverts), really enjoyed it.  Programmes like this always make me want to be part of the action.

To the woman who complained her ^23 fare went up in smoke because 'they' can't get the trains to run;  I'd call that a bargain, add on a few 0s and you might be permitted to moan more.

[TonyK]

A rather amusing review, from the Guardian:


Hell, as Sartre failed to realise, isn't so much other people as other people on Saturday's 20.45 from Paddington to Swansea.

"Do I know where hell is? Hell is in "Hello!""

I finally got to watch the programme on 5 OD, and I rather enjoyed it. I hear what is said about it being a bad day at the office for FGW^▸ (First Great Western), rather than a normal boring day, but that's television for you. How you deal with the bad days is, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion), the measure of the people dealing with them. FGW came out on top, in my opinion. The travelling British public do not understand that vandals setting fire to lineside equipment is going to impact on services.

My favourite bit was the lady telling the Ops Manager that the train was, in her opinion, "dangerous". I would have told her "Well, don't get on it then", but I don't work for FGW.

I am in the public sector, and get some stick sometimes, nothing I can't deal with. I have to give out bad news occasionally, similar to telling someone that the train is cancelled. In my (considerable) experience, honesty is always the best policy. Tell it like it is, and no-one can call you to task. Not only that, you don't have to remember what you said.