Little Trains & Big Names

Photo by Sam Lane.

You may have seen the trailers, but if not, don’t worry I’m about to catch you up: Little Trains and Big Names with Pete Waterman, a brand new popular factual documentary, is hurtling onto More4 at 9pm tonight (19th October).

The Hitman himself is meeting with a selection of famous faces who share his passion for all things miniature. He’s spending quality time with them and their beloved creations:

Jools Holland invites Pete into his loft to see a work of modelling art 12 years in the making. Eddie Izzard shows Pete two exhibition models which are steeped in her family history. James May teaches Pete how to repair toy trains (as well as taking a trip down ‘memory track’), and Status Quo legend Francis Rossi takes his first steps into the world of railway modelling.

The celebs have great fun playing trains with Pete, but their modelling antics also act as a fantastic springboard into various topics for them to chew the fat over: Their lives from childhood and through their careers, their artistic processes, and relevant social / cultural history.

In addition (because who doesn’t love a B-Story), we also follow Pete and his modelling mates building a giant model railway from scratch for an exhibition at Chester Cathedral. It really is mahoosive – in Pete’s words, this is ‘rock and roll modelling’.

As producer on the series, I (along with my dear friend, Series Director Joe Lister), spent lots of time on the road with Pete, and filming with our wonderful celebrity ‘geeks and geezers’. (Two labels which I can confirm are not mutually exclusive).

I also ‘edit produced’ the Jools Holland and James May episodes. The former is our series opener, which, if you’d already forgotten, airs tonight at 9pm on More4! James Jackson of the Times has said it 'might have been the most specialist in-depth interview ever broadcast on TV', but that makes it sound so niche - I do think it's quite universally appealing... why not decide for yourself? (Yes, I know we’re competing with Taskmaster at that time, but this is why catch-up was invented, right?)

P.S. There may be a cheeky Noel Gallagher cameo in there... who can spot him?