An authentic regional film location has been doing a bit of 'time-travelling'.

Last week, the preserved Downpatrick & Co Down Railway in Northern Ireland saw Doctor Who actor, Matt Smith exchange the iconic TARDIS for the fully operational trains of the Co Down railway while filming a new TV drama.

According to the Downpatrick & Co Down Railway's own website, the standard gauge heritage railway - founded in 1985 - was turned into 1930s Berlin for several key scenes of the BBC2 drama Christopher and His Kind.

The web news item records that the Time Lord actor - who is playing the lead role of English novelist Christopher Isherwood in the drama - was on set in what their art department transformed into an 1930s Amsterdam café, while the station platform was adorned with German station names.

Filming took place in the late evening and early morning of last Wednesday and Thursday (26th and 27th May) with the production team, Mammoth Screen, co-ordinating events.

Railway Chairman Michael Collins said they were delighted to assist the film-makers. He said: "We're no stranger to big names filming in Downpatrick – over the years we've had Griff Rhys Jones, Graham Norton and Harry Seacombe all filming sequences at Downpatrick.

"Nothing was left to chance as they strove to create an authentic 1930s Berlin feel. The crew pasted up posters for the Volksfest carnival of 1933 and 'Deutschland Ernacht' on the walls and old tables and chairs and a bar replaced ticket racks in the station," the chairman explained, noting that the little Downpatrick Station become 'Berlin Alhalter Bahnhof' for the drama.

He added: "They also fell in love with our 1935 German built steam engines, which they simply couldn't get anywhere – although they were built for Ireland."

Mr Collins said that the fact that the Downpatrick railway was chosen for another major production demonstrates its growing appeal as a film location.

He added: "It shows that we can offer something different to other organisations, where they can set up in time and have the flexibility to get the station and train as they would want it."

The production company is hoping to use a number of other locations in Northern Ireland, including Mount Stewart House in Newtownards, Ballywalter Park Estate and the Scottish Mutual Building behind City Hall in Belfast.

This 90-minute film is directed by Geoffrey Sax (Tipping The Velvet) and produced by Celia Duval (Margot) for Mammoth Screen, with Michele Buck, Kevin Elyot and Damien Timmer as executive producers.

See: Dr Who Star Returns To NI

See: www.downrail.co.uk/index.htm

(BMcC/GK)