TRUE romantics will be captivated by the new production at Theatre Royal Windsor.

Stars Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove came to be photographed and interviewed at Windsor and Eton Riverside Station on Wednesday beside the steam train The Royal Norfolkman, pulled by the locomotive Mayflower.

Just a few hours before they took to the stage in Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter On Air, they conjured up the iconic images of the 1945 David Lean movie filmed at Carnforth Station.

The film was made just before the end of WWII, during which Coward was involved with the British propaganda office in Paris. He also, apparently, worked on behalf of British Intelligence.

Martin Shaw, who plays Inspector George Gently and also High Court Judge Sir John Deed, takes the lead in Brief Encounter opposite Jenny Seagrove and said: “Today we are living in pax Americana, 2,000 years ago we were living in pax Romana and it meant something to be a Roman, and it meant something to be American.

“They had their values and when Brief Encounter was written, it meant something to be British.

“It was about belonging to a club that had certain values and these values were included in Brief Encounter. I think it is likely, though I don’t know for sure, that those were the values that were then harnessed by British Intelligence to say ‘this is who we are’.”

Jenny Seagrove, who has worked alongside Martin Shaw as a barrister and his love interest Jo Mills in Judge John Deed, has played the role of Laura Jesson on stage on a number of occasions.

She said: “Brief Encounter was written by a man who was outside the establishment because of his sexuality and you feel his yearning to belong in this piece.

“There are so many layers to Brief Encounter which is why this is such an exquisite piece which resonates today with contemporary audiences.”