It is not unusual for places to be catapulted to stardom thanks to the medium of TV or cinema.

Castle Howard still reaps the rewards of its Brideshead Revisited days, Salzburg is inextricably linked with The Sound of Music, and Sheffield cashed-in big style in the wake of The Full Monty.

But few locations could owe more to a film release than the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

It was still very much a fledgling organisation when the five-mile line was chosen as the setting for the 1970 movie version of Edith Nesbit's classic tale, The Railway Children.

Volunteers had successfully reopened the line - closed by British Rail in the early 1960s - just two years before the film hit cinema screens.

And the enthusiasts - although determined to ensure their years of hard work to bring Worth Valley passenger services back on track would not be wasted - were struggling to attract people who had become accustomed to using alternative means of transport.

But thanks to The Railway Children, all that was about to change.

Passenger figures doubled, as crowds flocked to see the locations from the film - Oakworth Station, The Three Chimneys, Perks' cottage, to name but a few.

And even today - over three decades later - visitors are still drawn on the strength of the movie, and to enjoy the six-mile circular walk built up around it.

Another burst of Railway Children fever is anticipated after the screening on BBC1 next week of a programme revisiting the scenes.

Shot last year, the 15-minute programme is the first in a series - Big Screen Britain - which returns to the settings of several timeless cinema masterpieces.

It includes an interview with actress Sally Thomsett, who played Phyllis in the film.

She describes to presenter Ben Fogle the difficulties she faced as a 21-year-old actress portraying someone less than half that age.

To ensure she remained strictly in character, she was prohibited throughout filming from driving, smoking or drinking alcohol. And she dispels rumours about the type of garment she waved in the famous scene where the children halt a train to avert tragedy. "I was not waving my red knickers - they were red petticoats," she says.

The programme also features an interview with former K&WVR chairman Graham Mitchell.

He played a guard in the film, a role he performed in real life as a volunteer on the railway.

Mr Mitchell has no doubts about the importance of the movie to the line.

"It doubled our visitor figures within months and led us to increase our capacity to operate twice as many trains," he told us.

"It gave us huge exposure, not just when the film was premiered in the Christmas holidays in 1970 but also during the actual filming which had taken place in May and June of that year.

"The fact a film unit was in the area for two months raised awareness.

"We are used to filming now and are very blase about it, but that wasn't the case then. To have the cameras and the stars there was a big event - people came along to watch, and there was extensive coverage on the TV and in newspapers."

Many local people appeared as extras in the movie, and some recollect their memories of those days in the programme - to be shown on Monday (Jan 27) at 3.05pm.

Among them are Keighley MP Ann Cryer and her son John, also an MP. John - who appeared with his sister Jane - was only four at the time of filming but retains fond recollections of his flag-waving role.

He says that in visits to schools in his constituency, the children are always far more impressed by his claim to movie fame than by his accomplishments as an MP.

Ann's late husband Bob, a founder member of the K&WVR, was technical advisor to the film production team.

Former members of Haworth Band - who played in the movie - are reunited, and Ben Fogle speaks to the then real-life owners of Perks' cottage.

He also enjoys a ride in the cab of one of the film's other stars, the Green Dragon steam loco.