There’s been a lot of exciting news about reboots of our some of our favourite children’s films over recent months. 

Julie Walters and Colin Firth starred in the Sky Cinema production of The Secret Garden. Mindy Kaling is set to star in the new James And The Giant Peach. And Emma Stone absolutely slayed as one of the scariest villains ever in Cruella. 

And now, more than 50 years after the original film was released, a sequel inspired by both E Nesbit’s beloved 1906 novel The Railway Children and its 1970 adaptation is just around the corner.

Set during World War II, The Railway Children Return follows a group of children who are evacuated from London to the Yorkshire countryside where they encounter a young soldier who is also far away from home. 

The official synopsis reads: “1944 – As life in Britain’s cities becomes increasingly perilous, three evacuee children – Lily, Pattie and Ted, Watts – are sent by their mother from Salford to the Yorkshire village of Oakworth.

“There to meet them on the train station platform are Bobbie Waterbury, her daughter, Annie and grandson Thomas, and with their help, the evacuees are soon settling into their new life in the countryside.

“When the children discover injured American soldier Abe hiding out in the railyard at Oakworth Station, they are thrust into a dangerous quest to assist their new friend who, like them, is a long way from home.” 

The new movie has plenty of familiar faces, too. Fans of the original 1970 film will be excited to know that Jenny Agutter, best known for playing Sister Julienne in Call The Midwife, is reprising her role as Roberta’ Bobbie’ Waterbury. Sheridan Smith will play Bobbie’s daughter, Annie, while Austin Haynes will play Bobbie’s grandson, Thomas.

The cast also includes Game of Thrones’ John Bradley, Little Dorrit’s Tom Courtenay, and three newcomers as the evacuee siblings at the centre of the story: Lily, played by Beau Gadsdon, Pattie, played by Eden Hamilton, and Ted, played by Zac Cudby.

Injured American soldier Abe, meanwhile, will be portrayed by KJ Aikens.

Directed by Morgan Matthews and written by Bafta winner Danny Brocklehurst, the movie will feature several locations used in the original film, including Oakworth Station, Haworth, The Bronte Parsonage and Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

Fans don’t have long to wait to see this enchanting new adventure either, as The Railway Children Return is set to be released in cinemas on 15 July 2022.

Images: Getty; Studiocanal