When Superman landed for filming in a windy Milton Keynes

On a windy day in 1986 the residents of Milton Keynes were treated to an unexpected sight flying through the sky.

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was Superman.

Drastic budget cuts forced filmmakers to shoot Superman IV: The Quest For Peace in the Buckinghamshire new town. Lead star Christopher Reeve, hoisted by a crane, was dangled above Milton Keynes Central Station.

With the latest Superman reboot soaring into cinemas, now with actor David Corenswet in the famous red pants, people have been sharing their memories of when the American superhero touched down in the unlikely British location.

Released in 1987, Superman IV was panned by critics, fans – and even its own cast.

Reeve later wrote in his memoir, Still Me: “We had to shoot at an industrial park in England in the rain with about 100 extras, not a car in sight, and a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere.

“Even if the story had been brilliant, I don’t think that we could ever have lived up to the audience’s expectations with this approach.”

Although the three earlier films had been shot at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, the fourth instalment was the first to be shot entirely in the UK, with most of it being done at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire.

Several other locations across Hertfordshire were also used. Villain Lex Luthor was driving along the then unopened M25 just outside Bricket Wood, near St Albans, when his car was lifted into the sky by his superhero nemesis.

According to fan Jason Joiner, who runs the National Film and Sci-Fi Museum, about 18 minutes of the 90-minute film was shot in Milton Keynes.

He said: “It mimics some of the new towns in America, so it didn’t look look like British architecture.

“It was this sort of modern realistic building facades, and that was ideal for the backdrop of creating an environment like New York or Metropolis.”

Filming took place at office buildings and an indoor exotic garden, but predominantly outside Milton Keynes Central Station, which doubled as the UN headquarters.

Museum curator Mr Joiner added: “We’ve got one of the paving slabs from when they resurfaced the area where the railway station is.

“When they lifted them up we had an opportunity to grab a paving slab. So we took one of those just to keep in Milton Keynes just because it’s part of the history of the filming of Superman there.”

Graham Bedford, 75, worked in an office across the road and witnessed the history first-hand.

“It was quite gobsmacking, really,” he said.

“I saw Christopher Reeve being hoisted up on the crane, and then him coming down and doing that graceful kind of land that he did with one foot – the other foot tucked up behind him.”

The photographer, who now lives in Suffolk, always carried a camera with him so was quick to snap some photos.

“Basically, they just turned up with all the lorries and the cranes and goodness knows what,” he said.

“It must have cost a fortune [with] the vehicles and the camera gear and the crane and everything.”

Stephanie English was no stranger to a film set. She had started doing extras work in about 1976 and has since worked in the field for 40 years.

She often attends conventions, where “Star Wars is the thing that most people are interested in” – specifically her fleeting role in The Empire Strikes Back.

While filming Superman IV, she posed for photos at a Daily Planet newsstand added by the production team to dress the street.

She said the set was “very convincing” and “very realistic”.

She recalled: “[It was a] bit of a strange area. There was no life. There’s nothing about, no people, no pigeons, nothing… But you know, it was just nice to go somewhere different.”

Later she got closer to the star while filming a nightclub scene at London’s Hippodrome, although it was footage that didn’t make the final cut.

“You think you’re in it and then they cut a bit out or they cut the whole thing,” she mused.

Still, she managed to get a photo with Reeve, who left a strong impression: “Very, very nice. Really nice guy. Pleasant and friendly and everything. Very nice.”

Actor David Waterman, now 73, had a front-row seat to Superman’s descent on Milton Keynes.

“The agent phoned up and said ‘I’ve got a nice little role for you. I’d like you to be a hot dog man on Superman’,” he said.

“Initially I was expecting to be flown off to America – some exotic site somewhere. But, no, it wasn’t to be. It was Milton Keynes.”

He recalled how the “dreadful” windy weather hampered rehearsals, making things tricky for Reeve and his stunt double, but the star eventually took to the skies without any trace of fear.

“He’s done that so many times before in the previous Superman films. He totally trusted the the technicians in charge of the rigging for the flying,” said Mr Waterman.

He described the actor as a “nice guy” who was chatty and cheerful despite his doubts about the film’s direction.

Though the end result was not well received, Mr Waterman has met many fans of it over the years, and in 2016 he took part in a shot-for-shot remake made by a fan in Milton Keynes.

“I’ve become quite a cult figure for that particular film,” he said.

“I’ve had to do many seminars and meetings and things like that. So it’s it’s paid off for me. It’s paid off for me in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the time.”