The Train Now Standing... is a Britcom that aired on ITV from 1972-73, starring Bill Fraser and Hugh Walters.
Hedley Green (Fraser) is the stationmaster at Burberry Halt, a sleepy country station on the Milchester line that somehow remained open throughout the Beeching cuts. Hedley runs the station as if he were still on his beloved Great Western Railway, wearing his old uniform and keeping order with a rule book from 1933.
With only three trains a day stopping at Burberry Halt, Hedley and his porter-cum-everything, Peter Pringle (Walters), have little work to do other than deal with their area managers, at first Mr. Potts (Denis Lill) and later on Mr. Pitts (Garfield Morgan).
Other regular visitors to Burberry Halt include Rosie (Pamela Cundell), George (Norman Mitchell), Bill (George Waring), Charlie (Geoff L'Cise), and Fred (Arthur White).
The series bears a resemblance to the radio sitcom Parsley Sidings, both being set on sleepy branch line stations. Coincidentally, Parsley Sidings had been pitched for an ITV adaptation but turned down due to the existence of The Train Now Standing....
While still existing in the archives, the series is unable to be watched as it hasn't been re-aired since 1973 nor released on home media or streaming.
The Tropes Now Standing...:
- Alliterative Name: Peter Pringle.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: As shown in "Double Top", Hedley keeps the pictures of three British icons hung up in the station; they are Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill... and Bobby Moore, captain of West Ham United.
- Birthday Episode: "It Never Rains" takes place on Hedley's birthday, only he refuses for festivities to disrupt his timetables.
- British Brevity: The series only ran for fifteen episodes over two series.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: All the regular cast members who weren't Hedley or Peter disappeared after Series 1, with Mr. Potts in particular getting replaced by a Suspiciously Similar Substitute, Mr. Pitts.
- Creature of Habit: Hedley knows how he wants Burberry Halt to be run and refuses to let anyone challenge him, nor the 1933 rulebook he slavishly obeys.
- Diet Episode: Hedley starts a keep-fit routine in "Old Glory", part of which puts him on a diet. When he can't stand the sight of Peter eating and drinking, he forces him to join him on a cross-country run.
- Final Season Casting: The final series dropped all of the supporting cast of the first series (Pamela Cundell, Norman Mitchell, George Waring, Geoff L'Cise, Arthur White, and Denis Lill), while bringing in Garfield Morgan (to play a character not unlike Lill's).
- Jack of All Trades: Officially, Peter is just the porter at Burberry Halt. Unofficially, he does virtually anything Hedley needs to do at the station.
- Minimalist Cast: "Old Glory" from Series 2 features only Hedley and Peter with no guest cast.
- New Old Flame: In "Brief Encounter", Hedley tells Peter about Celia Braithwaite, a woman he briefly had a fling with in the past. Guess who arrives on the next train to Burberry Halt...
- No Full Name Given:
- We don't get to find out Rosie, George, Bill, Charlie, or Fred's last names.
- We also don't get to know Mr. Potts or Mr. Pitts' first names.
- One-Steve Limit: Series 2 had two different one-offs called Brenda - the one played by Brenda Peters in "Brief Encounter" and the one played by Valerie Leon in "A Night to Remember".
- Percussive Maintenance: Hedley often gets free chocolate from the Nestle vending machine at Burberry Halt by kicking it in the right place.
- Pest Episode: In "Send Him Victorious", right before the annual "Best Kept Station" competition, Burberry Halt is sent a small box addressed to Mr. Bentley, an authority on foreign insects. Naturally, Hedley opens the box which causes chaos.
- Pun-Based Title: The Series 2 episode, "Goodbye Sailor", takes its title from the phrase, "Hello, sailor!".
- Short-Runners: Only two series totaling fifteen episodes were produced.
- Shout-Out:
- Hedley is a big fan of West Ham United captain Bobby Moore, keeping his picture hung up in the station alongside ones of Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill.
- One episode from each series has a title taken from a novel, with Series 1 using Send Him Victorious and Series 2 using The Shape of Things to Come.
- Series 2 has three episode titles taken from films, the full list of which is Brief Encounter, A Night to Remember, and The Long Goodbye.
- Special Guest: Gwen Watford got special billing above Hugh Walters when she played Celia Braithwaite in "Brief Encounter".
- Status Quo Is God: In "Goodbye Sailor", Peter gets the urge to join the Navy. Naturally, he doesn't go through with it and decides to remain at Burberry Halt.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In Series 1, Burberry Halt was often visited by the area manager, Mr. Potts. In Series 2, Mr. Potts is nowhere to be seen, but conveniently there is a new area manager, Mr. Pitts.
- With a Foot on the Bus: Peter plans to leave Burberry Halt for the Navy in "Goodbye Sailor", but doesn't end up going through with it, remaining as Hedley's porter.
- Worst Aid: When Mr. Bottomley, a passenger, trips and hurts his leg in "The Slings and Arrows", Hedley and Peter attempt to help him by using the station broom as a splint, much to the horror of the ambulance men.
