''The Last Train'' (''Cruel Earth'' in Canada) is a British six-part serial, a post-apocalyptic drama first broadcast on the ITV network in 1999. It has since been repeated on

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, ...

in 1999/2001 and on numerous occasions on the UK

Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

. The serial was written by Matthew Graham and produced for ITV by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

. The series has not been released on DVD or any other format, and has never aired in the US.

Plot synopsis

A random group of individuals on a train travelling between London and Sheffield are cryogenically frozen when the train crashes inside a tunnel and a canister of gas being carried by a passenger is released in their carriage. They unfreeze to find the United Kingdom in ruins. Unbeknownst to them, 52 years have passed. They wrongly believe weeks, then months, then just 14 years have passed whilst they were frozen in time before eventually finding out the devastating truth. They are some of the few humans to have survived an apocalyptic asteroid strike and are alone in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

countryside. It is revealed that the passenger with the gas canister, Harriet Ambrose (

Nicola Walker Nicola Jane Walker (born 15 May 1970) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that of Ruth Evershed in the spy drama '' Spooks'' (2003–2006 and 2009–201 ...

), knew of the incoming asteroid strike and had been on her way to a top-secret government project known as ''Ark''. Harriet wishes to track down the ''Ark'' team to find her boyfriend, scientist Jonathan Geddes (

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in ''Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in ''The Boat That Rocked'' aka ' ...

). The rest of the group agrees to join her, since it seems like their best chance to find other survivors and a safe haven. On the way, they must deal with the dangers of the post-apocalyptic world, such as feral dog packs and tribes of seemingly hostile humans... children of the few original survivors.

Cast and crew

Main characters

Supporting cast

Ordered alphabetically by actors' surnames * Guard (Roger Bingham) – Episode 1 * Johnathan Geddes (

), ''Ark''s chief scientist and Harriet's lover, who gave her the cryogenic canister, government clearance, a security badge/swipe card, and directions to meet at his government bunker and later, at ''Ark''. He appears as Harriet remembers him in a video in Episode 2, and in person having aged 40 years at the end of Episode 6. * Karen (Joy Carradice) – Episode 6 * Mark (

Kenneth Colley Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films '' The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ' ...

), Gillian's father and leader of the Mareby village group; he wants Hild and the train group to stay with him and, to that end, sabotages the van – Episode 5 * Darren (Chris Cook) * Archie (Robert Dunn) – Episode 1 * Danny (Justin Ellery) – Episode 1 * Gillian (

Deborah Findlay Deborah Findlay (born 23 December 1947) is an English actress. She joined a theatre company while studying English at the University of Leeds. Career Findlay has worked primarily on stage and appeared in numerous productions, including the origi ...

), Mark's daughter; she's had several still-born babies – Episode 5 * Sam (John Flitcroft) – Episode 1 * Becky (Abigail Hayes) – Episode 1 * Teenager (Chris Hoyle) – Episode 1 * Miss. Eversleigh (Mary Jones) * Coats (Josh Moran) – Episode 1 * Behemoth (David Nicholls) – Episode 6 (not credited in episode 5) * Hornrim ( Phil Smeeton) – Episode 6 (not credited in episode 5) * Midwife (Flo Wilson) – Episode 4

Episodes

Production

In Canada, the series aired under its working title: ''Cruel Earth''. The series was written by Matthew Graham, who went on to co-create and write '' Life on Mars'', its spin-off '' Ashes to Ashes'', and the short-lived ''

Bonekickers ''Bonekickers'' is a BBC drama about a team of archaeologists, set at the fictional Wessex University. It made its début on 8 July 2008 and ran for one series. It was written by ''Life on Mars'' and '' Ashes to Ashes'' creators Matthew Graha ...

''. He also wrote the episode "

Fear Her "Fear Her" is the eleventh episode of the second series of the British science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 24 June 2006. It was written by Matthew Graham and directed by Euros Lyn. The episode takes place in Lo ...

" for the 2006 series of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'', as well as two episodes of '' Hustle''. Settings: * The railway depot shown in the programme, that is said to be

Sheffield railway station Sheffield station, formerly ''Pond Street'' and later ''Sheffield Midland'', is a combined railway station and tram stop in Sheffield, England; it is the busiest station in South Yorkshire. Adjacent is Sheffield station/Sheffield Hallam Uni ...

, is in fact the derelict

Manchester Mayfield railway station Manchester Mayfield is a former railway station in Manchester, England, on the south side of Fairfield Street next to Manchester Piccadilly station. Opened in 1910, Mayfield was constructed as a four-platform relief station adjacent to Piccadi ...

in Manchester. * The church in episode 2 is

Gorton Monastery The Church and Friary of St Francis, known locally as Gorton Monastery, is a Grade II* listed former Franciscan friary in Gorton, Manchester, England. It was designed by the noted Victorian architect Edward Welby Pugin and built 1866–1872. ...

. * The camp featured in episode 4 is an old Pontin's holiday camp in Prestatyn, North Wales (Tower Beach Holiday Camp). * The village "Mareby" in episode 5 is Wardle, a small village in Greater Manchester, near Littleborough and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Boroug ...

. * The ''Ark'' structure featured in episode 6 was

Thorpe Marsh Power Station Thorpe Marsh Power Station was a 1 GW coal-fired power station near Barnby Dun in South Yorkshire, England. The station was commissioned in 1963 and closed in 1994. In 2011, permission was given for the construction of a gas-fired power ...

, located five miles northeast of Doncaster; it was undergoing demolition at the time. In the United States, the Fox Network purchased the rights to produce a new version of the series soon after its original 1999 UK transmission. Retitled ''The Ark'', the idea did not progress beyond the pilot stage.

References

External links

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