A footnote to this long-extinct thread. I directed three parts of this series back in 1988, when the future for railways looked pretty grim under Thatcher (remember the Serpell report, which would have taken up where Beeching left off?) and the Settle - Carlisle line was due to be closed. How times have changed!

The music was indeed Bare Necessities, by the New England group of the same name and a personal favourite of mine. When I proposed using it, I was told by the BBC Copyright Department that it could not possibly be cleared, as it was an American recording (Varrick CD VR-013). Determined to use it whatever they said, I made a single Transatlantic call to Varick Records and got their instant agreement!

I still think Pat Shaw's wistful and stately composition and the beautiful playing of Peter Barnes, Earl Gaddis, Mary Lea and Jacqueline Schwab, provide the perfect match to that long opening shot by the great Ivo Peters. You certainly wouldn't be allowed to start a television programme like that these days!   

Andrew