Original title
The Tube
Released
2/20/2012
Origin country
GB
Genre
Documentary
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
1
Number of episodes
6
The Tube is a 2012 documentary television series produced by Blast! Films for the BBC. It follows the staff and passengers of the London Underground as it underwent the biggest upgrade in its history. It premiered on BBC Two on 20 February 2012 for a six-week run.
In 2013 London Underground is 150 years old. The world's first underground railway is spending its anniversary year celebrating its own history. They're sending a steam train back underground, and there's a Royal visit to prepare for. On the tube, history is everywhere - it's down every tunnel, in every tunnel, in every sign and design, and in the lives of the unsung people who built it and run it today. Following on from BBC2's The Tube series, this programme tells the story of the underground through the eyes of the people who work for it. Farringdon station supervisor Iain MacPherson reveals why his station - the original terminus - was constructed in the 1860s, and recalls the dark days of Kings Cross in the 1980s. Piccadilly line driver Dylan Glenister explains why every Edwardian station on his line has its own unique tiling pattern and how, in the 1930s, the construction of new stations expanded the borders of London.
Behind-the-scenes look at the London Underground, beginning with weekend rail replacement works threatening to disrupt the daily service, and a woman pushed onto a live track during a busy Saturday night at Leicester Square. The number of passengers using the Tube at the weekend has doubled in the last decade, forcing the system to adapt to changing circumstances.
Following the work of plain-clothes ticket inspectors Diane McConnell and Denese Brunker as they pursue fare-dodgers across the network, fighting a crime that costs London Underground £20million a year. The pair confront some of the people who contribute to the 60,000 unpaid journeys taken every day, revealing what happens to those caught red-handed.
The work of emergency response units on the London Underground are taken a look at. Two drivers talk about the horror of seeing someone falling or jumping in front of their trains. The series also looks at how the underground deals with the demands of the annual Notting Hill Carnival.
Faulty doors and a signal failure cause major delays on the Victoria Line, where head of upgrades David Waboso is trying to work on a solution to the network's trebling of passengers over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, supervisor Barry Griffiths endeavours to keep the crowds moving at Tottenham Court Road as work continues to make the station six times bigger.
Rush hour is the biggest test on the underground and it can be too much for some passengers. Station Supervisor Bob Weedon at Bank has to deal with some injured passengers and faintings in a row. Chief operating officer Howard Collins has to step in and help following a power failure on the Jubilee Line that threatens to disrupt the evening rush.
Every night, 10,000 workers descend on the Tube to maintain, repair and clean it. We follow this invisible overnight army as they work against the clock in the four-hour window when the power is off - from hard-working Bulgarian cleaner Vladimir, who is amazed that the British government pays for people not to work, to 23-year-old Harry leading his gang of 'fluffers' picking fibres and lint from the tracks. Meanwhile pest controller Mick is called to a smelly problem at Hounslow Central, while emergency response worker Roy gets inside one of the Underground's disused 'ghost' stations, Down Street.
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