Aldwych tube station question ?

[Busterfridge]

Might be the wrong forum but i'll take the flak
Have just been reading S K Baker's rail atlas, and on the london central plan it states that aldwych tube station is used for 'filming purposes', can anyone expand on this statement or throw some more light on the subject, my curiosity is starting to get the better of me
Cheers

 

[umontu]

It was in V for vendetta.
Here's a good site on it.
http://underground-history.co.uk/aldwych.php

 

[pendolino]

Yes, it's used quite a lot. http://underground-history.co.uk/aldwych.php

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.

edit: beaten to it with the link.

 

[trentside]

I believe the disused Jubilee platforms at Charing Cross are also regularly used for filming purposes - the advantage there is the station looks much more modern and up to date.

 

[43021HST]

I believe the disused Jubilee platforms at Charing Cross are also regularly used for filming purposes - the advantage there is the station looks much more modern and up to date.

Some of our open tube stations look older than the Charing Cross Jubilee station, for example Lambeth, Lambeth is my favourite tube station.

 

[pendolino]

I believe the disused Jubilee platforms at Charing Cross are also regularly used for filming purposes - the advantage there is the station looks much more modern and up to date.

Used for mock ups of new decor etc. too.

 

[trentside]

When you consider that Charing Cross Jubilee only lasted 20 years that's hardly surprising. According to Rails Through the Clay, the section between there and Green Park was one of the most expensive sections of the original Jubilee to build, only to be quickly abandoned. Without the Jubilee it also makes the layout of Charing Cross station seem a little bizarre, now the Jubilee no longer sits in between the Bakerloo and Northern sides of the station.

 

[pendolino]

When you consider that Charing Cross Jubilee only lasted 20 years that's hardly surprising. According to Rails Through the Clay, the section between there and Green Park was one of the most expensive sections of the original Jubilee to build, only to be quickly abandoned. Without the Jubilee it also makes the layout of Charing Cross station seem a little bizarre, now the Jubilee no longer sits in between the Bakerloo and Northern sides of the station.

'Charing Cross' always was a bizarre layout, even pre-Jubilee/Fleet line: don't forget that what is now Charing Cross on the Northern used to be Strand station, and what is now Charing Cross on the Bakerloo used to be called Trafalgar Square. And what is now Embankment (District/Circle/Northern) used to be known as Charing Cross. All very confusing.

 

[trentside]

I seem to re-call that Embankment also carried the name Charing Cross (Embankment) for a time too. It gets more complicated when you factor in Aldwych, which was originally known as Strand, but was re-named when the Northern station was re-named from Charing Cross to Strand...

For anyone who is confused - here is a good explanation!

http://www.squarewheels.org.uk/rly/CHX-EMBconundrum

 

[pendolino]

There was a great little exhibition recently at Church Farmhouse Museum in Hendon (now sadly closed as of end of March) about Harry Beck's tube map. I took the attached picture which shows Strand/Trafalgar Square/Charing Cross as was. It looks like Harold Hutchison's reworking of Beck's map, of which Beck disapproved, so that probably dates it to early 60s I guess. There's no Victoria or Jubilee line, but Aldwych is on there.

 

[Mojo]

Mod note: moved thread to LU forum as it has nothing to do with NR. Please check where you're posting new threads in future, thanks

As to some of the points that have been raised here, Charing + is still used for reversing trains at times during disruption, but not in passenger service south of Green Park.

If anyone has seen the latest "let others off the train first" poster, the photos for that were taken with LU staff modelling themselves as regular passengers, at Charing + Jubilee line.

 

[DavyCrocket]

Embankment SSR signalling buttons in the control room still say Charing Cross!

 

[pendolino]

If anyone has seen the latest "let others off the train first" poster, the photos for that were taken with LU staff modelling themselves as regular passengers, at Charing + Jubilee line.

Annie Mole did a somewhat disparaging piece about the new poster recently. I have to agree, it doesn't have the class of a Fougasse poster.

 

[Mojo]

It wasn't done by an agency; TfL did it in house.

No poster will ever work really. It's not the commuters who barge on trains before people get off, it's the visitors to London and the infrequent passengers who do it.

 

[317 forever]

I believe the disused Jubilee platforms at Charing Cross are also regularly used for filming purposes - the advantage there is the station looks much more modern and up to date.

Indeed, Lena Headey starred in a film about 2-3 years ago which featured a scene there. Alas I forget which film it was, even though I think she's gorgeous!

 

[Deerfold]

It wasn't done by an agency; TfL did it in house.

No poster will ever work really. It's not the commuters who barge on trains before people get off, it's the visitors to London and the infrequent passengers who do it.

I beg to differ. There's plenty of ignorant commuters around too.

 

[MikeWh]

As to some of the points that have been raised here, Charing + is still used for reversing trains at times during disruption, but not in passenger service south of Green Park.

There was one Saturday a couple of summers back when I really wished they had reopened the platforms while reversing trains there. Kent CCC were playing in a cricket final at Lord's and the Jubilee was closed between Green Park and Stratford. Half the Kent fans were arriving at Charing Cross that day and it would have been so much easier to have had a single tube ride to St John's Road.

 

[GuyBarry]

After seeing this thread I was intrigued to learn that there is actually a London Underground Film Office:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/media/lufilmoffice/

I'm puzzled by the list of available locations, though. Aldwych and Charing Cross have already been mentioned, and the Waterloo & City line is presumably available on Sundays, but aren't the other stations all fully operational?

 

[Metrailway]

After seeing this thread I was intrigued to learn that there is actually a London Underground Film Office:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/media/lufilmoffice/

I'm puzzled by the list of available locations, though. Aldwych and Charing Cross have already been mentioned, and the Waterloo & City line is presumably available on Sundays, but aren't the other stations all fully operational?

You can pretty much film anywhere on the network as long as you pay enough money! Aldwych and Charing Cross are mainly used by film crews as they are (I think) the cheapest locations as they are closed. Presumably to get permits for fully operational stations cost more. For instance, a plot of an episode of New Tricks last week, was to do with a murder on the Circle Line. So it doesn't make sense for the crew to film at Aldwych if a location on the Circle line could be used.
Looking at the 'our top locations' list, East Finchley is popular with crews due to it's Art Deco buildings; Westminster, Waterloo and Canary Wharf due to it's modern architecture; and Moorgate has 2 rarely used platforms so plenty of space.

 

[Tubester]

I also believe it can be hired out for functions, wedding receptions etc...

 

[colchesterken]

I heard on London news tonight that Aldwych has been given grade 2 listed status
How about opening it to the public as a muesum ( oops spelling )
I used to go to Somerset house in the late 60s and always used to go by tube from
Aldwych to Chancery lane just for the fun of it ,after all its just a short walk

 

[Peter Mugridge]

That BBC local news report carried some good, if brief, clips of 1923 stock in service - one clip showed a multi platform surface station with three rakes in at once; looked like it might have been either White City, Golders Green or Finchley Central?

 

[DavyCrocket]

When Harry Potter scenes were being filmed at Westminster station (Saturday morning IIRC), the station was closed. Customers weren't told the real reason!

Filming can take place at stations so long as it doesn't cause too much chaos, but depends on the number of cast and crew and LU Operational staff. I've supervised some filming in the daytime (was quite busy!) at Knightsbridge in the ticket hall and platforms.

 

[GuyBarry]

When Harry Potter scenes were being filmed at Westminster station (Saturday morning IIRC), the station was closed. Customers weren't told the real reason!

Why are London Underground allowed to close part of the network and cause disruption to passengers purely for the purposes of private profit? I thought they were supposed to be providing a public service.

(Do you know what reason they gave, by the way?)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

For instance, a plot of an episode of New Tricks last week, was to do with a murder on the Circle Line. So it doesn't make sense for the crew to film at Aldwych if a location on the Circle line could be used.

Why is it not possible to use Aldwych (or another disused station) and mock it up to look like a Circle line station? I doubt whether the vast majority of viewers could tell the difference anyway.

This site contains an extensive list of Underground locations used in films and TV

 

[Metrailway]

Why is it not possible to use Aldwych (or another disused station) and mock it up to look like a Circle line station? I doubt whether the vast majority of viewers could tell the difference anyway.

You're right that 99% of people watching wouldn't notice the difference, but if the director wants to show a disused station as operational, you need quite a few actors to play the passengers, as well at least 1 train. Probably the cost for hiring them, as well as paying for props, is higher than the permit for an operational station, which has free trains and passengers!

It's not just dramas, news crews would probably like to film in a particular station if a story links to that station.

 

[Dstock7080]

That BBC local news report carried some good, if brief, clips of 1923 stock in service - one clip showed a multi platform surface station with three rakes in at once; looked like it might have been either White City, Golders Green or Finchley Central?

Having looked at the BBC i-Player the only station shown with Standard Stock was Morden.

 

[Mojo]

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/media/lufilmoffice/

I'm puzzled by the list of available locations, though. Aldwych and Charing Cross have already been mentioned, and the Waterloo & City line is presumably available on Sundays, but aren't the other stations all fully operational?

Earls Court has the mothballed Exhibition escalators and ticket hall. Liverpool Street has a ticket hall and escalators which are only open on weekdays.

 

[swt_passenger]

I believe the disused Jubilee platforms at Charing Cross are also regularly used for filming purposes - the advantage there is the station looks much more modern and up to date.

The last of the Bourne trilogy used Charing Cross (Jubilee) as Waterloo - for the scene where he is chasing the gunman who escapes on the train.

A scene copied from the French Connection, I think...

 

[robertclark125]

The Charing Cross Jubilee line platforms were also used in the 1986 film The Fourth Protocol. Anton Rodgers character is seen boarding one, then leaving one a few minutes later.

And as to why the station couldn't be used during that cricket final, simple; the escalators. They're fixed, and have been stripped of mechanical parts. There is a fixed stairway on one set of stairs as well, but I don't think it's directly from the ticket office. I think it's from the Bakerloo platforms.

 

[1018509]

< snip... a plot of an episode of New Tricks last week, was to do with a murder on the Circle Line. ....snip >

Yes indeed it was and Hammersmith depot became Acton for some reason.

Why change the name when it had no bearing on the plot. I thought as accurate as possible would be best and it really is not a good idea to walk along the depot roads between the tracks. What do they think the yellow lines are for?