Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys is a TV show on BBC4. Documentary series in which Michael Portillo travels the country by train. The program has been available since 2022. A total of 313 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in May 2024.
Last broadcast:21/05/2024 at 13:30
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30:00
Michael Portillo hits the tracks to see how the railways have shaped Britain. Michael meets the Queen's saddler and learns how to cook an authentic curry.
30:00
Travels by train. Ex-MP Michael Portillo visits the oldest working factory in the world at Cromford and explores the country's first public park in Derby.
Series 13
30:00
Michael heads to the splendid Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to a Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Beauchamp, whose openly homosexual lifestyle led to his exile from the country.
Series 9
30:00
Michael Portillo explores Edwardian utopia in Letchworth, where he meets a fourth generation citizen who introduces him to the town's community spirit.
30:00
Michael Portillo embarks on train journeys through Edwardian Britain, exploring the grand estates of Norfolk and a bivouac on Brownsea Island on the way.
Series 1
30:00
Ex-MP Michael Portillo begins his epic trip from Buxton to London, visiting the Duke of Devonshire's stables and hopping on the historic steam railway to Rowsley.
30:00
Travels by train. Michael Portillo searches for the lost church of St Piran, explores a working tin mine in Cornwall and harvests oysters on the Helford River.
Series 15
Series 1
30:00
Epic rail journeys inspired by cartographer George Bradshaw. Michael Portillo visits the largest clay mine in the world near St Austell and goes pilchard fishing.
30:00
Michael Portillo travels along Brunel's Great Western Railway. Here he goes salmon fishing on the Dart estuary and spends some of Totnes's new local currency.
Series 13
30:00
Michael Portillo follows his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide to the unspoilt East Sussex port of Rye, where he learns about the loss of a generation of lifeboatmen in 1928 and explores a wartime pillbox.
Series 1
30:00
Travels by train. Ex-MP Michael Portillo samples local Cheddar strawberries, explores Cheddar Gorge and visits an extremely old pier in Weston-super-Mare.
30:00
Train travels with the ex-Tory. Michael Portillo journeys from Swindon to Penzance, sampling spa treatments in Bath and trying glassblowing in Bristol on the way.
30:00
Michael Portillo continues his epic journey from Preston to Scotland, visiting the Clyde valley orchards, the Forth Rail Bridge and the town of Kirkcaldy.
30:00
Michael Portillo hits the rails. Here the ex-MP meets wild clansmen in Carlisle, witnesses a wedding in Gretna Green and visits a secret WWI munitions factory.
Series 13
Series 1
30:00
Travels by train. Michael Portillo continues his journey to Scotland, riding a steamboat on Lake Windermere and visiting Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere.
30:00
Michael 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.