The Railway Children

Based on Edith Nesbit's 1906 novel, this Masterpiece Theater adaptation stars Jenny Agutter as the very proper Mother, an aspiring writer whose husband (Michael Kitchen) is unexpectedly spirited away by the police. Without telling her children the reason for their father's disappearance, Mother takes them to live in a Yorkshire country house to save on the dwindling family finances. In keeping with the early-20th century fascination with trains, the children--headed up by eldest child Bobbie (Jemima Rooper, in the role that Agutter played in the 1970 version)--are drawn to the local railway, where their episodic adventures include waving at the train and an elderly gentleman aboard (Sir Richard Attenborough), rescuing an injured schoolboy, and saving the train from derailment, which ultimately affords them the chance to meet the benefactor who'll reunite them with their father. Although the sparkling-looking disc lacks significant extras, this warmly sentimental favorite is recommended. (T. Rich)