''The Navigators'' is a 2001 British film directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

with screenplay by

Rob Dawber Robert "Rob" Dawber (8 January 1956 – 20 February 2001) was a British railwayman turned writer whose script for the film '' The Navigators'' was commissioned by director Ken Loach and shot in Sheffield, where Dawber lived.Ken LoacObituary ...

. It tells the story of the reactions of five

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

rail workers to the privatisation of the railway maintenance organisation for which they all work, and the consequences for them. The film was inspired by the failure of the

Connex South Central Connex South Central was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Central franchise from 26 May 1996 until 25 August 2001. History On 26 May 1996, Connex commenced operating the Network SouthCent ...

and the

Connex South Eastern Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Connex that operated the South Eastern franchise from October 1996 until November 2003. History On 13 October 1996 Connex commenced operating the South Easter ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

s: Connex was ultimately stripped of both franchises before the franchise period ended due to poor service and financial mismanagement. Rob Dawber received the 2001 BAFTA award (posthumously) for "New Writer" for the film.

Plot

The film follows five railway workers – John, Paul, Mick, Gerry and Len – in a Yorkshire depot affected by the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...

in 1995. The men are informed by their supervisor that they are now working for a company called East Midlands Infrastructure, and are competing with rival track companies. On a maintenance job, one of the workers is sent away because his depot is now owned by a rival firm. His departure leaves the rest of the crew unable to finish the job. The railwaymen are introduced to their new managing director, Mr Hemmings, by watching a video about the "age of change" in Britain's rail industry. Hemmings says that the culture will change too, and the days of a job for life are over, though new opportunities have arisen for those prepared to take the initiative. East Midlands Infrastructure is renamed Gilchrist Engineering. Gerry argues with his boss about procedures being imposed without consultation. Management make a concession that the crew points out is no concession at all. The Managing Director visits the depot in person, and demands that, since "the slate has been wiped clean", there must be no concessions or agreements, forcing the supposed concession to be withdrawn. To the railwaymen's surprise, they are ordered to destroy their old equipment with sledgehammers as it no longer meets current standards. They are interrupted with news of a derailment at Dore. There they meet a former colleague, Len, who is working for an agency and earning much more than he did with the company. After his pay is reduced to pay for additional child support, Paul agrees to take voluntary redundancy and join an agency. John follows suit. Mick and Gerry try to talk them out of it, pointing out that they will lose any job security. However, the few remaining Gilchrist employees are soon notified that the depot is no longer competitive and will be closed. They are given twelve weeks' notice of their redundancy. Mick visits an employment agency and discovers that, while work is available, he will receive no sickness benefits and must pay for his own transport, equipment and training. He goes to a job but the crew he joins is four men short and includes builders with no railway experience. Mick argues with the supervisor, and is given a negative report which leaves him unemployed for weeks. He finally manages to get another assignment that leads to a reunion with his former colleagues. Their happiness at working together again is marred by a passing train spewing toilet waste over them. The men are given a job pouring a cement signal base, but they are next to an active track with no look out. After dusk, Jim is hit by a locomotive and badly injured. Since they could be barred from working for breaching safety procedures, Mick and Paul carry Jim to the side of a road so that they can claim he has been hit by a car. Jim dies from his injuries. Gerry is now the only one of the original five remaining at Gilchrist, and his job is due to end in days.

Cast

Dean Andrews Dean Andrews (born 6 August 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DS Ray Carling in the BBC drama series ''Life on Mars''. He continued the role in the sequel series, '' Ashes to Ashes'', until 2010. As of April 2019, he ha ...

as John * Thomas Craig as Mick *

Joe Duttine Joe Duttine, sometimes credited as Jo Duttine (born 30 June 1970), is an English film, theatre and television actor. He currently plays Tim Metcalfe in '' Coronation Street''. He is also known for his role in '' Shameless'' as Cameron Donnell ...

as Paul *

Steve Huison Steve Huison (born 2 December 1962) is a British actor who is mostly seen on television and occasionally in films. He is best known as “Lomper” in the film ''The Full Monty'' (1997) and for his role as Eddie Windass in ''Coronation Street'' ...

as Jim *Venn Tracey as Gerry *Andy Swallow as Len *Sean Glenn as Harpic *Charlie Brown as Jack *Juliet Bates as Fiona *John Aston as Bill Walters *Graham Heptinstall as Owen *Angela Saville as Tracy *Clare McSwain as Lisa *Megan Topham as Chloe *Abigail Pearson as Eve

External links

* * * Some of the film was shot at th
Great Central Railway
in Loughborough. {{DEFAULTSORT:Navigators, The 2001 films 2001 drama films English-language German films English-language Spanish films Films scored by George Fenton Films directed by Ken Loach Films set in Sheffield Films set in the 1990s Rail transport films British drama films Films about privatization Films about the labor movement 2000s English-language films 2000s British films

Plot

Cast

See also

External links