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 208 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in April 2025.
Last episode
Great British Railway Journeys
Michael’s exploration of Essex reaches Chelmsford, where the city's bishop relates her story of escape from Iran after the Islamic revolution of 1979.
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25:00
Michael Portillo continues his epic journey from Preston to Scotland, visiting the Clyde valley orchards, the Forth Rail Bridge and the town of Kirkcaldy.
25:00Michael 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.
35:00Travels by train. Michael Portillo continues his journey to Scotland, riding a steamboat on Lake Windermere and visiting Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere.
25:00Michael 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.
Series 16
Michael’s exploration of Essex continues in Romford, where he visits a state-of-the-art rail operating centre. On the River Blackwater, he visits the Ross Revenge, home of Radio Caroline.
Series 13 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo heads to Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to Lord Beauchamp, and in Margate he discovers the connection to TS Eliot.
30:00Michael Portillo follows his 1930s Bradshaw's guide to the unspoilt East Sussex port of Rye, then boards the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway to Dungeness.
Series 1 25:00
25:00An 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.
25:00Michael 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.
35:00How did our railways mould modern-day Britain? Michael Portillo hears how Hull became a large white fish port and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.
25:00Ex-politician Michael Portillo takes to the tracks. Michael goes back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and learns more about the Romans in York.
Series 16
Michael Portillo embarks on a journey across Essex. He heads to the ancient woodland of Epping Forest and learns of Audley End House's role as a secret wartime military school.
Series 13 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo arrives in Hassocks and the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, before making his way to the village of Benenden.
30:00
Michael Portillo takes a trip in a Second World War Spitfire above Biggin Hill aerodrome.
Series 1 25:00
25:00Michael Portillo traces the footsteps of cartographer George Bradshaw. Michael learns more about his Victorian guide and the link between trains and a fish supper.
25:00Ex-MP Michael Portillo embarks on a series of magnificent train journeys. Michael travels on the world's first passenger railway line and learns to speak Scouse.
Series 16
On the final leg of his Midlands tour, Michael Portillo travels to Solihull, the home of iconic British brand Land Rover. Later, he visits the childhood neighbourhood of JRR Tolkien.
Arriving in Birmingham, Michael Portillo heads to Curzon Street for a tour of the HS2 terminus still under construction. In the Newtown area, he visits the oldest private manufacturing firm in the UK.
Michael Portillo boards a barge on the Dudley Canal, discovers an ancient seabed and explores racial tension in 1960s Smethwick.