Cruel Train
Cruel Train (also known as The Beast in Man[1]) is a British television crime drama, written and directed by Malcolm McKay, that first broadcast on BBC2 on 22 December 1996.[2] Based on Émile Zola's 1890 novel La Bête humaine, and set during the Blitz, the film stars David Suchet as Ruben Roberts, a railway official who discovers that his wife, Selina (Saskia Reeves), was sexually abused as a child by the Chairman of the Line, Arthur Grandridge (David Belcher), who also happens to be her godfather.[3] Assisted by Selina, Ruben plots to murder Grandridge on the Brighton Express.[4]
| Cruel Train | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Written by | Malcolm McKay |
| Directed by | Malcolm McKay |
| Starring |
|
| Composer | Nick Bicât |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Mervyn Gill-Dougherty |
| Cinematography | Sean Van Hales |
| Editor | Masahiro Hirakubo |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production company | BBC Worldwide |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Picture format | 16:9 (576i) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 22 December 1996 |
Filming for Cruel Train took place at Pebble Mill Studios between 25 November and 22 December 1994, with a budget of £1.25 million. The set used was built entirely from scratch in a disused warehouse on the former GEC turbine and transformer works, which was demolished shortly after filming ceased.[5] In 1996, Cruel Train was nominated in for the British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Original Television Music. Despite remaining commercially unreleased on VHS or DVD, Cruel Train is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the United States.[4]
Cast
- David Suchet as Ruben Roberts
- Saskia Reeves as Selina Roberts
- Adrian Dunbar as Jack Dando
- Alec McCowen as Supt. Fish
- Jonathan Moore as Sgt. Handy
- Richard Ridings as Percy Cotton
- Melanie Hill as Phyllis Pratt
- Vivienne Burgess as Mrs. Liddle
- Gerard Horan as Colin Caine
- Minnie Driver as Flora Mussell
- Bryan Pringle as Maurice Mussell
- Sheila Reid as Vera Mussell
- Patrick Godfrey as Mr. Davidson
- Steven Crossley as John Muster
- Paul McKay as Henry Holloway
- David Belcher as Arthur Grandridge
- N15 class no. 777 as the locomotive
References
- ^ "Cruel Train (1996)". BFI. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ "Cruel Train – BBC Two England – 22 December 1996". BBC Genome. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ "Cruel Train (BBC-2 1996, David Suchet, Minnie Driver)". Memorable TV. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ a b "Cruel Train: David Suchet, Saskia Reeves". Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ "Cruel Train: Pebble Mill Studios". Pebble Mill. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
External links
- Cruel Train at IMDb