Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys is a TV show on BBC4. All aboard! Michael Portillo explores the UK the railways made. Uncover hidden gems and fascinating communities from across the nation. The program has been available since 2024. A total of 219 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in May 2025.
Last episode
25:00
25:00Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo's latest railway excursion is fit for royalty, as he follows Queen Victoria's regular journey south from Windsor - collecting the mail on the way.
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30:00Michael Portillo travels from London's Docklands to the Barbican, examining the story of the arrival at Tilbury in 1948 of over a thousand passengers from the Caribbean.
30:00Michael Portillo continues his post-war exploration of northwest England in Bradford and Shipley, before ending at Hebden Bridge.
Series 12
35:00
35:00Michael Portillo heads for leafy Hatch End, where he investigates an illustrator whose work was so popular in the 1920s and 30s that his name entered the English dictionary.
Series 3 25:00
25:00London's calling for Michael Portillo, as he enjoys a ride on a secret miniature railway beneath the capital's streets and rings the church bells in Bow.
25:00Travelogue meets Victorian history in this fascinating series with Michael Portillo. Here the This Week regular heads to Hackney, hearing about an on-board murder.
35:00The 'sad man on a train' - as he is known to Andrew Neil - tours Victorian freak show sites by rail and rides one of the very first electric railways in Southend.
25:00Michael Portillo's train-hopping travels take him to the Port of Felixstowe. The Bradshaw buff traces the lost city of Dunwich - Britain's very own Atlantis.
Series 12 25:00
25:00Michael Portillo continues his travels through England's Home Counties at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, where he discovers the legacy of a German Jewish doctor who fled the Nazis.
Series 3 25:00
25:00Michael Portillo takes to the tracks yet again. The ex-MP discovers the grave-robbing past of Great Yarmouth and works a Victorian swing bridge in Reedham.
Series 2 25:00
25:00Travelling by train up the breathtaking west coast of Scotland to Skye, Michael Portillo discovers how the railways helped train commandos at Lochailort for WWII.
35:00Travels by train. Michael Portillo investigates the mysterious parallel roads of Glenroy and takes a steam train across the spectacular viaduct at Glenfinnan.
25:00Rail buff Michael Portillo hears how trains helped spread the word about Oban whisky and visits Corrour, one of the Victorian elite's favourite shooting estates.
Series 12 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo strikes out on another series of railway journeys, starting with a tour of the Home Counties and beyond in the city of dreaming spires, Oxford.
Series 2 25:00
25:00Spectacular rail voyages inspired by Victorian pioneer George Bradshaw. Michael Portillo visits Loch Lomond and the Dumbarton shipyard that built the Cutty Sark.
25:00Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with George Bradshaw's seminal Victorian Railway Guidebook. A visit to the hometown of Robbie Burns and a lesson in haggis-making.
35:00Michael Portillo travels the length and breadth of Britain by train. Hastings and Romney Marsh are on today's itinerary and Michael samples Kent's sparkling wine.
25:00Series 3, Episode 9 - Brockenhurst to Poole
Expected on
A Victorian voyage by train. Michael Portillo seeks out venomous adders in the New Forest, uncovers a secret library in Wimborne and visits the Poole potteries. 25:00Series 3, Episode 8 - Winchester to Isle of Wight
Expected on
Roving by rail. Michael Portillo discovers what did amuse Queen Victoria, as he travels by train to her favourite holiday destination - the Isle of Wight. 35:00Series 3, Episode 7 - Reading to Alton
Expected on
Train travels. Michael Portillo samples a Victorian superfood in Alton, explores the wonderfully preserved Whitchurch Silk Mill and takes control of a steam train.