Mad Dog

Fenton recoils from the water

Mad Dog > Locations > Derbyshire > Monsal >

Fenton
is horrified
by the
flowing
water

Fenton sees the water and is repulsed

"Fear of water!"
Fenton to Charles

 

Inconsolable, Fenton attempts suicide by throwing himself from the hilltop wall behind his halfway house — but seeing the river flow below, he collapses back behind the wall as his hydrophobia overwhelms him

Repulsed,
Fenton falls
backwards

The riders close in

"God help me!"
Fenton to Charles

The river
viewed from
the viaduct

The river as seen from the Monsal viaduct

July 2005

 

Description: The wall on which Fenton stands and sees the river is behind Air Cottage, near Ilam — the real-life location of 'Fenton's halfway house' — see here. For several years, the precise location of the 'crash zoom' shot of the river that Fenton looks down on could not be confirmed.

Where is it?: During the course of researching the Survivors book The End of the World? in 2005, a document was retrieved listing this shot on the episode's filming schedule as one to be taken from the top of the Monsal viaduct. Director Tristan de Vere Cole was able to confirm, with the aid of this document, that this would indeed have been correct. The final 'missing' Mad Dog filming location has thus been identified. The shot was taken from the left hand edge of the viaduct (as you face towards the tunnel entrance) opposite the point at which the stunt shot of Charles' fall from his horse at the start of the episode was taken. The viaduct top is accessible from the signed footpath leading down from Monsal Head, and also via a steep pathway from the valley floor. It can also be reached along the footpath adjacent to the barn in which Charles is discovered by the young girl.

Where's the best vantage point?: Walking away from the tunnel entrance, cross the viaduct and stop near its far right-hand edge. Find a position to look, safely, down on the river from above. Although the appearance of the river has altered somewhat since 1977, it is this area of the river and its banks that appears in the crash-zoom shot.

What about access?: The viaduct is open to the public and there are no photographic restrictions. However, each of the possible routes to the viaduct top involves steep climbs, and the pathways need to be traversed with care.

 
 

Mad Dog > Locations > Derbyshire > Monsal
 
 
 

Page last updated:
16 March 2006