Murder in Carriage 69

When a gentleman is murdered aboard Carriage 69, Britain’s first railway killing sparks a frantic cross-border hunt that plunges Victorian London into fear - until Detective Tanner uncovers the truth.

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Inspiration

We were taking part in the Fairground.TV creators program and were chosen to create an episode for their Victorian Crime true crime series. We wanted a lesser-known case, and the 1864 killing of Thomas Briggs Britain’s first railway murder stood out. Reimagining this event gave us a chance to show how one shocking crime shook Victorian London.

What it does

It tells an atmospheric period drama that begins with a gentleman murdered on a late-evening train. Detective Tanner leads the investigation, which quickly turns into a cross-border hunt for the prime suspect, while newspapers fuel public outrage and Victorian London reacts with fear and fascination. The story follows Tanner’s pursuit, the rising tension in the city, and the thin line between justice, rumor, and revenge.

How we built it

We researched the real case, wrote the script with ChatGPT, and designed the Victorian setting in Midjourney. The animation was created using LumaLabs, Midjourney, and BasedLads. We handled lipsync with Hedra, generated the voiceover in ElevenLabs, and composed the original soundtrack in Suno.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was juggling several projects at the same time. Managing deadlines across multiple productions added a lot of pressure, and there were moments where we were genuinely worried we wouldn’t finish everything on time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We managed to turn a historic case into a clear, engaging short film with strong mood and pacing and it became one of our smoothest period-style projects made with AI.

What we learned

We learned how to blend real history with stylized storytelling, how to use AI to build a convincing period look, and how to simplify a dense true-crime event without losing its emotional weight.

What's next for Murder in Carriage 69

We may return to this world later with another story or deeper character focus, but for now it stands as a complete short made in collaboration with Fairground.TV.

Built With

  • basedlabs
  • chatgpt
  • elevenlabs
  • hedra
  • lumalabs
  • midjourney
  • suno
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