Lovely to see world through eyes of youngsters – The Railway Children star

Actress Jenny Agutter has said it is lovely to see the world through the eyes of youngsters as she joined stars including Sheridan Smith at the world premiere of The Railway Children Return.

The Call The Midwife star, who was a teenager when she shot to fame as the oldest of the Waterbury children in the 1970 film, is portrayed as a grown woman in the sequel.

The original film, based on the 1906 novel of the same name by E Nesbit, told the story of a mother and her three children who move to the Yorkshire countryside after their father is falsely imprisoned.

The new generation of Railway Children includes The Crown actress Beau Gadsdon, as well as KJ Aikens, Eden Hamilton, Austin Haynes and Zac Cudby.

The sequel will see the children evacuated to a Yorkshire village during the Second World War, where they encounter a young soldier who is also far from home.

Jenny Agutter and Sheridan Smith (Danny Lawson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Danny Lawson

Agutter, 69, joined cast members including Smith and Tom Courtenay at the world premiere of the film at Keighley Picture House Cinema, Keighley, West Yorkshire, on Sunday after boarding a train at Oakworth Station in Haworth.

She said taking the film into a different time is something author Nesbit would have liked, adding: “It’s very important that it’s 1944 and that we’re looking at people who have been through a first world war, a second world war and how that’s changed society.

“Their adventures…children are still children, and they should continue to have adventures and they should continue to instruct us about who we are in the world because they see very clearly and it’s lovely to see the world through their eyes isn’t it?”

Sheridan Smith, Tom Courtenay and Jenny Agutter (Danny Lawson/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Danny Lawson

The film is directed by Morgan Matthews and has been shot in key locations from the original film, including Oakworth Station and the nearby Bronte Parsonage.