Still our favourite all time ‘alternative’ sticker on the Tube is this one which dates back to 2001 – fourteen years old now!
Aliens on the Northern Line
More reported in this BBC article here.
Don’t prevent people getting on the train
6th March 2015
In the wake of the footage showing Chelsea fans in Paris not letting a man on a train, a warning appeared on the Internet to never do the same with aliens from another world …
Silent Witness, Falling Angels, Part Two
4th March 2015
Continuing with Part Two of January’s two part “Silent Witness” story “Falling Angels”…
Warning this article contains SPOILERS.
Part Two starts with a police press conference outside Archway with the station entrance…
…and a telling off over the road with The Lion pub visible.
More in-service action on the Central line at St Paul’s and then the train is very quickly outside.
Male character again in the open at what we think might be Harrow & Wealdstone station. The direction of the train (towards the camera) and the platform suggests it’s one that’s terminated and reversed there (though the film could be run in reverse, but we’ve not seen any evidence of that so far in this production). The stock suggests Bakerloo or Piccadilly line, but as we’ve also seen scenes of Harrow & Wealdstone before we know they have been filming on the Bakerloo line.
He gets on a Bakerloo line 1973 Stock train, which…
…travels northbound on the Bakerloo line between South Kenton and Kenton – there is a green footbridge over the railway.
You can see it from satellite imagery – it’s next to Northwick Park. So I think we can safely say Bakerloo line!
Over to Kentish Town with East Midlands Trains “I’m heading to Mornington Crescent, I’ll meet you there…”
Exterior of Mornington Crescent…
…and interior of Mornington Crescent as she takes the stairs not the lifts and onto…
…the Southbound Northern line platform, followed by the Northbound with her colleague.
They travel on the Northern line on unrefurbished 1995 stock going Northbound from Mornington Crescent following the previous route from Highgate to Archway so this makes sense.
The characters meet up at Willesden Junction on the high level platforms for the Overground. (He’d obviously come back down the Bakerloo to meet her!)
The police are closing in! Leaping the barriers at the real Kentish Town station!
Two escalators at Kentish Town mutate into…
Three working escalators at Charing Cross disused.
And they are back on to Charing Cross Jubilee platforms for the climax of the story. This time it’s masquerading as “Kentish Town” (With another quick flashback to Finsbury Park.)
And with an approaching 1996 stock, we reach the…
…shocking conclusion!
We’ll have the full video of all the Tube scenes in this Silent Witness in the next post…
Silent Witness, Falling Angels, Part One
3rd March 2015
Last year’s Tube based “Sherlock” story which, although it made extensive use of location filming on the Tube, for the major Tube location spotters had inaccuracies galore (see “The Case of the Bad Continuity”) that detracted from the fact that those locations were in use in the first place! Sub-surface stock innards in 1972 Tube stock, Sub-surface stock in Tube tunnels etc etc.
So when we settled down to watch January’s two part “Silent Witness” story “Falling Angels”, it was with more than a little trepidation as we’d heard it was extensively Tube based and that some scenes had been “guerrilla” filmed in live stations with normal traffic. How would it fare…
We’re going to show you in this three part post and we’ll have the full 19 minutes of Tube-based scenes for you in the final one! You’ll want to watch this as there is even more detail and scenery than conveyed by the screenshots here!
Warning this article contains SPOILERS.
…let’s just say we were pleasantly surprised and with around 19 minutes of Tube-based scenes in the 2 hours there is quite a bit for the location aficionados amongst you.
The story opens on what are clearly the disused Jubilee line platforms at Charing Cross station, however, there is a black and white frieze and roundels with “Archway” on them on the platform.
Archway, Northern line, got it! There’s moving 1996 stock and action at track level too.
Our first character now leaves “Archway” station along a corridor that has a Piccadilly line map on the wall (you can see the Hounslows and loop for Heathrow 4 quite clearly)
and exits out of Finsbury Park station!
This is somewhat odd, considering what happens later on… I think I can state here that this is the only real continuity “crime” in the whole programme!
A woman on an unrefurbished Northern line train. She clearly gets off at the unmistakable East Finchley Station.
Next, scenes on a Central line train in service and what appears the first of the “in-service” filming.
The character involved departs the train and exits West Acton station into the alleyway next door to meet his unfortunate fate…
A character walks over a passenger footbridge over Tube tracks – it’s not completely clear where…
…but our money is on Harrow & Wealdstone if that’s a sunset in the West (and there are too many tracks for it to be Rayners Lane, which would have been our first guess.)
He arrives on the platform of the in-service Northern line with refurbished 1995 Stock at what can only be Highgate station because of the length of the platform.
More in-service filming on a refurbished Northern line train, complete with a Tissue Beggar…
…which suddenly mutates into 1996 Stock back at Charing Cross masquerading as Archway.
Now we get to see the tiles of the real Archway exit/entrance…
…gate line
and control room as the police run down onto Charing Cross again masquerading as Archway.
Our suspect escapes via the driver’s cab into the tunnels and ventilation tunnels at Charing Cross at the climax of Part One.
More action from Part Two in the next post…
Mind The Gap Documentary
1st March 2015
It was this time last year that the story came out how the widow of Oswald Laurence (the voice of the “Mind the Gap” announcements) used to visit the tube just to hear his voice … well, someone’s gone and made a beautiful short film about it.
Oswald Laurence’s voice was used on the northbound Northern Line but was phased out until only Embankment used it. Dr Margaret McCollum said she often uses the station and was devastated when “he wasn’t there” in November.
She was given a copy of the recording after TfL heard she went to Embankment after his death to hear his voice. After the request Transport for London bosses decided to restore the voiceover warning to Embankment station.
The film features Babrican, not Embankment – and if you’re being really picked you’ll notice a few continuity errors.
Mind The Gap from Luke Flanagan on Vimeo.
Santa Cycles
27th February 2015
The Mayor of London, Transport for London and Santander today announced a seven-year partnership to grow and develop London’s Cycle Hire scheme.
Named ‘Boris Bikes’ as the ‘Barclays Cycle Hire’ slogan never caught on.
The new name – Santander Cycles – and the new red-and-white livery (although the base dark blue colour seems to be staying) of the 11,500 bikes, 748 docking stations and 32 service vehicles will become familiar sights to Londoners from April onwards. Staff uniforms and membership keys will also be rebranded.
Rumour has it that Santander outbid Coca Cola for sponsorship of the scheme.
So with them now being ‘Santander Cycles’, that’s got to be abbreviated to ‘Santa Cycles’ right?
When not passing through Zone 1 …
24th February 2015
Pink Oyster Pad
The highly amusing TLF Travel Alerts posted this on Twitter, and made us laugh … overtones of course, of a classic Monty Python sketch.
There seems to be confusion around how to travel on the Overground if you’re not passing through Zone 1. It really is quite simple. Behold:
“If you are travelling on the Overground but NOT going through Zone 1 but ARE considering going through Zone 2 but NOT even thinking about a bus but you WILL be taking the Tube but for ONLY two stops and you WILL be taking a different route home but WON’T pass through any station with escalators DESPITE your need for excitement and you will ALSO skirt the borders of Zone 4 but NOT Zone 3 and you will ONLY travel in a CLOCKWISE direction then remember to touch your Oyster card on the pink reader, then the red one, then the green, the blue, the yellow the pink one again TWICE, then the purple one, recite the Sixth Incantation while turning on the spot, and then breathe. Just breathe.”
“Once your breathing has been monitored and deemed to be within acceptable limits, you will be asked 37 general knowledge questions and will then be required to compose a poem on a subject of your choice using a meter as defined by station staff. This will be judged.”
Following these simple steps will ensure you pay the correct fare. It’s really not that hard. Enjoy your journeys. We do.
New Tube Map 2015
19th February 2015
Station Master Geoff has written and produced an article and video for Londonist speculating on what might happen in May of this year, when new Overground lines are added to London’s transport network …
TfL Takeover
16th February 2015
Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes (with new Overground lines coming later this year), TfL are slowly but surely – like a Bond super villain – trying to take over the world? It appears they already have a logo for their global domination strategy …
Globe Roundel
50 Shades of tube
13th February 2015
50 Shades of Grey, with all the rude words replaced by Underground Stations. It’s probably even ruder than the original. Courtesy of Absolute Radio.
Fifty shades