Made-for-television film adaptation of Edith Nesbit' s classic novel. When their father (Michael Kitchen) is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying, young Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis are forced to move to Yorkshire with their mother (Jenny Agutter, who played Bobbie in the 1971 film version). The local railway provides a useful focus for them, and they strike up a friendship with an elderly gentleman (Richard Attenborough) who vows to help them prove their father's innocence. Synopsis In The Railway Children [2000], Jenny Agutter (who played Bobbie in a 1970 film version) stars as Mother alongside Sir Richard Attenborough in a Masterpiece Theater television presentation of Edith Nesbit's popular novel. Set in Yorkshire at the dawn of the 20th century, The Railway Children is the story of three children whose father has been wrongfully imprisoned for espionage, though they know nothing of this; their mother refuses to tell them why the police took away their father. The children spend their free time exploring the mystery of their father's disappearance and gazing at the nearby railroad, in the hope that it will somehow bring them an answer. After they help prevent an accident on the railroad, the children are befriended by a mysterious old gentleman (Attenborough), who may be able to provide some answers.