Derry Girls travel to Portrush... via Downpatrick and Whitehead!
FANS of Channel 4’s popular Derry Girls sitcom were taken on a train journey back in time when the third episode of the third and final series of the show was broadcast on April 26.
The whole episode depended on the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, whose preserved Northern Ireland Railways British Rail Engineering-built Class 450 ‘Thumper’ DMU No. 458 Antrim Castle of 1987 vintage was pressed into service to give the impression of taking the hapless school chums and their family from Derry to Portrush for an authentic 1990s day out to the seaside.
Filmed in secret
Filming took place in near-secrecy at Downpatrick over a week during last October and November using the 450, with Downpatrick volunteers working from dawn to dusk with the film crews to make the episode. The cast was supposed to leave Derry, with Whitehead station rebranded for the day, and eagle-eyed enthusiasts would have spotted them leaving on a presentday NIR CAF 3000 trainset!
However, the subsequent filming was done on the 450 on the Downpatrick railway, with Downpatrick doubling as Castlerock station and the train simulating a breakdown – by no means uncommon on NIR in the 1990s – in the middle of nowhere, while the trolley service attendant offered fare at 1990s prices, such a bacon roll at 80p, tea at 20p, and a ham sandwich at £1.20. Downpatrick volunteers had researched the menu and prices for a typical NIR offering of the day to make the menu as authentic as possible.
Channel 4 approached the railway just before the Covid-19 pandemic and it looked like the whole project was going to be abandoned, with the D&CDR missing out on valuable revenue and publicity from the shoot.
“We were delighted, however, when the producer got in touch to say that they wanted to go ahead,” said chairman Robert Gardiner. “The shooting went ahead, amid great secrecy, and we weren’t able to say very much about it until the first showing of the programme.
Authentic
“It was the biggest filming event on an Irish heritage railway since the 1970s. Our volunteers worked extremely hard to make sure that everything was as authentic and reliable as possible, with our railcar drivers in particular working long hours to meet the needs of the programme makers.”
The programme includes drone shots of the 450 making its way along the D&CDR, which doubles up for the Derry-Coleraine-Portrush line, while the Downpatrick loop platform is also featured in the show, available to view on All 4. And, as a bonus, visitors to the D&CDR will be able to see some signatures in the railway’s visitor’s book, with the cast of Derry Girls adding their signatures to those of VIPs visiting the railway!