Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys is a TV show on BBC4. All aboard! Armed with his trusty Bradshaw's guide, 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 142 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in September 2024.
Last episode
Great British Railway Journeys
Beginning at London Marylebone, the last great Victorian railway terminus to be built in the capital, Michael Portillo embarks on a postwar exploration of Britain’s southern counties.
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30:00
Michael Portillo reaches the capital on his rail journey. In Ealing, he is transformed for the silver screen by expert hair and make-up.
30:00Michael Portillo picks up his journey from Warwick to Rye. In Reading, he traces the origins of education for workers. In Cliveden he explores an Italianate mansion.
30:00Michael Portillo sets off on the first leg of a journey from the Midlands to Rye in East Sussex, beginning by travelling from Warwick to Radley in Oxfordshire.
30:00Michael Portillo visits the University of Glasgow's Officer Training Corps, then heads to Helensburgh, finding a group of artists known as the Glasgow Boys.
30:00Michael Portillo journeys from Glasgow to Cumbrae, learning about a forgotten Scottish expedition to the Antarctic.
30:00Michael Portillo journeys from Northern Ireland across the water to Scotland. Leaving from the seaport of Larne, he reaches Stranraer and the Mull of Galloway.
30:00On a journey from Belfast to Portrush, Michael Portillo investigates the work of author and Narnia creator CS Lewis, and visits the Royal Portrush Golf Club.
30:00Michael Portillo sets off on the first leg of a journey across Northern Ireland to Argyll and Bute, beginning by travelling from Newry to Portadown.
Series 1
30:00
30:00Travels by train. Michael Portillo continues his journey to Scotland, riding a steamboat on Lake Windermere and visiting Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere.
30:00Michael Portillo travels across Britain to see how railways changed us. Michael returns to the historic Settle-Carlisle line after helping to save it in the 1980s.
30:00An epic tour of our great nation by rail. Michael Portillo's second journey begins in Preston, where he explores the origins of the temperance movement.
30:00Michael Portillo takes to the tracks in this engaging travelogue. Michael goes birding on the wild cliffs of Flamborough Head and learns about knitting in Filey.
Series 14
Michael visits the fairy-tale castle of Eastnor at the foot of the Malvern Hills, before heading to the Severn Estuary and Filton, the centre of Britain's postwar aviation industry.
Series 8 25:00
25:00
Michael Portillo continues his journey across Ireland, travelling from Navan to Mullingar, where he uncovers a controversial Victorian dig at the sacred Hill of Tara.
Series 14
At the African and Caribbean Heritage Centre in Wolverhampton, Michael finds out about the impact of Enoch Powell's 1968 speech on immigration in Wolverhampton and across the nation.
Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, where work is underway the biggest project of new railway infrastructure in Britain for a hundred years: HS2.
In Coventry, Michael recalls the destruction by the Luftwaffe of the city’s Gothic cathedral in November 1940, before heading to Leamington Spa to visit the Guide Dogs for the Blind National Centre.
Michael Portillo explores the postwar Britain of his youth on a railway journey from the Midlands to the West Country, beginning in the city of Derby.
Series 13 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo discovers the origins of Harry Beck's map of the London Underground, and explores the headquarters of Churchill's war cabinet.