Anyone who has watched the recent Paddington Bear movie, particularly those who live or work locally to the area where the film is set, probably noticed that the shots of Paddington station appeared to look remarkably like Marylebone station. Indeed, it was the frontage of Marylebone station with the name Paddington slapped on to it!! After all should Paddington Bear return to the station where he arrived for the first time in London, he would be very confused.
Why was this done? I suspect it’s because the front of Paddington station looks so lousy that the film makers used the more attractive frontage of the station from Marylebone and simply changing its name.
I trust Network Rail has taken note of this, as it doesn’t reflect well on how it manages Paddington station. Now that the film has made the station a global landmark to which many tourists will visit, we don’t want them to be disappointed. It’s time the front of Paddington station was given a revamp by Network Rail, in keeping with how it looks in the movie.
I’ll be writing to Network Rail to make the point.