Told as three separate stories, God’s Wonderful Railway concerns the Grant family who, over several generations, devote their lives to the construction and maintenance of the Severn Valley branch of the Great Western Railway line.
Set in the 1860s, ‘The Permanent Way’ details the genesis of the GWR as navvies take over the countryside to begin construction of a new railway line. It is a project that will provide jobs for many people and will ultimately revolutionise the transport of goods and people.
The change is not welcomed with open arms by everyone, but Robbie Grant (John Barrett) is intent on proving that his injured leg will not prevent him from working.
‘Clear Ahead’ revisits the family in 1906. George Grant (Colin Douglas) is determined that he will work on the railway, following in the footsteps of his grandfather. This involves working for Mr Jellicoe (Richard Pearson), the intimidating station manager.
‘Fire on the Line’ concludes the story. In 1939 George has realised his dream and become a station master. It is now the turn of his son, Andy (Andrew Hughes) to maintain the family tradition and take a job on the railway. But as the company prepares for war, Andy soon finds out that there’s more to life than trains.
Filmed mostly on location, the idea of having the action take place over different eras was an interesting one but the series was rather slow-moving.
Robbie Grant
John Barrett Ted Jarvis
Dale Bayford Elsie Grant
June Brown Jane Grant
Shirley Cain Ted Jarvis
Bill Dean George Grant
Colin Douglas Marjorie Grant
Annette Ekblom Andy Grant
Andrew Hughes Geoffrey Green
Phillip Joseph Holmes
Ralph Lawton Fry
Terry Molloy Mr Jellicoe
Richard Pearson Harvey
Terry Pearson Alice Stone
Katherine Roberts George Grant
Ian Sandy
Episodes
The Permanent Way – Part 1 | The Permanent Way – Part 2 | Clear Ahead – Part 1 | Clear Ahead – Part 2 | Clear Ahead – Part 3 | Fire on the Line – Part 1 | Fire on the Line – Part 2 | Fire on the Line – Part 3
Set in the 1860s, ‘The Permanent Way’ details the genesis of the GWR as navvies take over the countryside to begin construction of a new railway line. It is a project that will provide jobs for many people and will ultimately revolutionise the transport of goods and people.
‘Fire on the Line’ concludes the story. In 1939 George has realised his dream and become a station master. It is now the turn of his son, Andy (Andrew Hughes) to maintain the family tradition and take a job on the railway. But as the company prepares for war, Andy soon finds out that there’s more to life than trains.
