It’ll Never Happen

From the collection of

London’s Screen Archives
London’s Screen Archives is a network of over 50 organisations with a collective vision – to preserve and share London’s history on film. The network is managed by Film London and we work with our partners to digitise, preserve, and offer access to their moving image collections.

It’ll Never Happen

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Short dramatisation of two serious work accidents and some near misses on London Underground tracks, followed by the correct operating procedures.

Training videos can be rather technical and dull. But what if they’re introduced by a tense docudrama that includes serious incidents, some close calls, and a scene in which a member of staff sees a mirage of his family on the tracks just minutes before a fatal accident? That seems to have been the thought process behind this mid-1990s training compilation. Featuring actors in a variety of London Underground staff roles, there is day-to-day banter and teasing, as well as reckless and dangerous behaviour exhibited by train drivers, track lookouts, and even those responsible for enforcing health and safety regulations, the Protection Masters. The film stresses that everyone has a part to play – sometimes all the hard work put in by supervisors that follow proper procedure can be undone by other team members behaving irresponsibly and just "mucking about". After these impactful and heart-breaking scenes, the viewer is told not to believe that "it will never happen", and the tone shifts. What follows is the crux of the matter: 13 thoroughly explained sections on safe operating procedures, touching on subjects such as track environment, proper telephone technique, and how to respond to a variety of emergency situations. Thanks to the real-life inspired drama that precedes these, the viewer can better appreciate the impact on their and their loved ones’ lives if the procedures are not adhered to.


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From the collection

Keeping London Moving

Go behind the scenes of 50 years of London transport with this selection from the London Transport Museum's video collection.
London's transport, from the bright red Routemaster to the futuristic Docklands Light Railway, is some of the most iconic in the world. But what was actually happening behind the scenes to make sure the buses, tubes, and trains got us to where we wanted to go? This collection of highlights from the London Transport Museum's video collection, which spans the 1970s to the mid-2000s, offers a peek into the operation rooms, underground tunnels, and bus garages that were 'Keeping London Moving', as the slogan of Transport for London proudly proclaims. In this selection, you can witness the birth of the Jubilee Line, or experience the frenzy of Millennium Eve on the Underground. Many of the videos in this collection were made by the London Buses' in-house video department, and show that staff training videos definitely don’t have to be dull. How better to train London Underground staff on good customer service than a version of the Wizard of Oz set on the Tube?

33 videos in this collection

1

Step Free Access On London Underground

2

Modernising the Underground

3

The Driverless Ghost Bus

4

London Underground Train Door Safety

5

Implementing London's Congestion Charge

6

London Transport: Routes Project

7

London Buses: Low Floor Bus

8

Chancery Lane Train Crash

9

It’ll Never Happen

10

New Years Eve 2000 on London Underground

11

London Buses: Clocking On with OPAL

12

Royal Visit to Willesden Garage

13

Starting on the Right Track

14

Station Assistance Support on the London Underground

15

Making Tracks Without Footprints

16

Simply the Best

17

Saints and Sinners

18

Putting You in the Picture

19

Ticket Gates at Victoria Station

20

Jubilee Line: Destination East

21

London Buses: Ticket To Ride

22

42 Hours: Moving Customers Over the Millennium

23

Crossrail: It’s About Time

24

What's Your Handicap?

25

Interview with Tom Eckersley

26

District Line: Fit for the Future

27

Farewell to Denis Tunnicliffe

28

Docklands Light Railway

29

London Buses: Farecard Trial

30

Safely There and Back

31

The Check Files

32

Audrey White Retirement Party

33

Above Us London: Northern Line Centenary

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