The Last Train (TV Mini Series) Episode #1.1 (1999) User Reviews

An enjoyable first part to a fondly remembered series.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 14 September 2020]

A group of random strangers emerge from what seems to be a Train crash, in reality time has stood still, and they awake after many, many years.

It's a good first episode, full of intrigue, and genuinely holds up well, it is twenty one years since I last watched it

I did really like the scene where they first escape from the train, and witness the meteor's devastation.

The Train crash relies on shaky cameras, sounds and some good acting, we don't have much by way of Special effects, they would probably have harmed the budget.

The music is now a bit corny, and some of the chat is a bit clunky.

A good cast, I cannot believe how young Sacha Dhawan is.

It's one of those nineties dramas I remember very well, and remember fondly, aside from a few dated production values, I thoroughly enjoyed it, 8/10.

Decent start to a post apocalyptic drama

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 9 February 2011]

This post-apocalyptic thriller begins shortly before a massive asteroid smashes into Zambia; we don't see anything of what is happening there but instead see various people boarding a train at London St Pancras to go the Sheffield, one of them, Harriet Ambrose is clearly distressed that she might not get to Sheffield in time; at this point we don't know why she must not be late. We learn when the train is in a tunnel just short of its destination; there is a massive earthquake that derails the train causing Harriet to drop a canister she had hidden in her bag. When the canister opens what appears to be a gas leaks out and everybody is frozen solid. They awake some time later when the tunnel starts to collapse, once out of the tunnel it is clear that something catastrophic has happened and that a considerable time has passed. Nobody believes Harriet's explanation at first but as they explore the city it becomes clear that nobody else is there; in fact the only sign of animal life appears to be the packs of dogs roaming around. These dogs show just how dangerous they are when they kill three of the group. With nobody alive in the city Harriet is determined to join her colleagues at a government facility known as Arc although the rest of the group are somewhat divided about what they should do.

This was a decent opening episode which swiftly explained just what had happened and made a start to introducing the characters including Harriet the MOD scientist played by Nicola Walker, a police sergeant played by Christopher Fulford, a thief played by Treva Etienne and widower Austin Danforth played by James Hazeldine. The cast did a good enough job with their roles even if some of the dialogue was a little cliché. Nowadays we would inevitably have been shown the impact in all its CGI glory but the makers wisely took the decision not to show it; if they had I'm sure the effect would have looked very dated now; instead we were just shown a more believable train crash.