Chinnor transformed for hit Netflix drama The Dig
THE Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway features in the latest Netflix blockbuster The Dig, which reimagines the 1939 excavation of the fabled AngloSaxon burial mounds at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.
The heritage line had been steadily increasing its filming activities over the last few years until the Covid-19 pandemic struck, bringing a halt to this income-generating business.
Location filming for a Dutch soap, a Bollywood saga, Top Gear, The Grand Tour and the BBC crime series Silent Witness (with a fake third rail!) took place at Chinnor, the latter 11 weeks before scenes for The Dig were shot on the line on October 7, 2019. Directed by Simon Stone and based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, it stars Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott, Archie Barnes and Monica Dolan.
Method
To recreate Woodbridge station 100 miles away in pre-war Suffolk, the South Devon Railway’s GWR prairie No. 5526 was coupled to 1880-built London, Chatham & Dover Railway first class carriage No. 9 brought in from the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. A conflat wagon fitted with a genuine LNER wooden door and a blank screen made up the consist.
The 2-6-2T was emblazoned with LNER and the GWR initials obscured, much to the delight of Chinnor steam inspector John Webb, who joined BR at Hatfield shed in 1953 and became a main line steam driver on the East Coast Main Line in 1961. He completed 51 years on the footplate before retiring in 2004, and Class 317 EMU No. 317345 was named after him in recognition of his service.
John was asked if he would like to be booked as driver for a filming job on an LNER locomotive for the day at Chinnor. He chuckled when he found it was No. 5526, wryly noting: “It looked remarkably similar to a GWR prairie!”
After several days of preparatory work with fences and signage removed, and the platform furniture changed, Chinnor station was transformed into Suffolk’s Woodbridge station 81 years ago. Station totems were made and timetables posted on the platform to create the atmospheric backdrop.
During the negotiations, as is usual, the story and filming date altered several times, and a scheduled boiler washout date was rearranged by the steam department in conjunction with No. 5526’s owner as a result.
The shot scene saw a steam service for London arriving at Woodbridge, and the footage appears at about 37 minutes into the film. The passenger joining the train was Carey Mulligan playing Edith Pretty, the owner of the Suffolk burial mound at Sutton Hoo. Entertainment media outlets reported that it was originally envisaged that Nicole Kidman would be booked to play the part.
It was an early start for the steam crew, with a 3am alarm, and I was booked as fireman, as the train had been requested ready for filming at 7am.
Appearance
Carey Mulligan was filmed arriving in a large black saloon car in the former station entrance road. The chauffeur opened the door and she walked onto the platform to join the ‘train’, comprising of the LNER wooden carriage door mounted on the conflat wagon!
The day was made possible by several days of preparatory work by teams of Chinnor volunteers without whose efforts behind the scenes, the contract would not have been delivered.
Released on January 15, with streaming on Netflix on January 29, The Dig has received rave reviews.
Kevin Maher, of The Times newspaper, gave the film five out of five stars, and described it a “serious, intellectually committed, and emotionally piercing cinema. Unmissable.”