Robbie (1979)

Directed by

Ronald Dunkley

Genre

horror

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

13 min

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 2 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This short film shows a young boy who trespasses on a railway line. Three different versions were made to warn viewers about the dangers of both electric and non-electric tracks. It was shown in schools across Great Britain to teach children about railway safety.

educationalsoberingseriousinstructionalstarkcautionarydated

What happens

Robbie is a 13-minute-long film made by British Transport Films in 1979 and revised in 1986. Although it is not strictly a Public Information Film, it is often considered to be so by fans of the genre. The film, which was shown in schools all over Great Britain, is centred around a young boy suffering a disfiguring and/or fatal accident when he trespasses on a railway line, with three different versions being made to demonstrate the dangers of both electrified and non-electrified lines. When it was first released, all three versions were narrated and introduced by Peter Purves, later replaced by Keith Chegwin when the films were revised. Robbie was written and directed by Ronald Dunkley and produced by James Ritchie. It was a replacement for the controversial and extremely graphic The Finishing Line, and was itself later replaced by a more modern film called Killing Time. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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