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 2025. A total of 275 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in November 2025.
Last episode
25:00
25:00Great British Railway Journeys
Michael 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.
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25:00Michael Portillo arrives in Hassocks and the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, before making his way to the village of Benenden.
Series 9
35:00
35:00In Snowdonia, Michael Portillo braves the fastest zip line in the world - 1,500 feet across a quarry - as he begins the last leg of his journey to Caernarfon.
25:00Michael Portillo travels between Liverpool and Wales, finding a miniature tank engine made by Frank Hornby and visiting the ruins of Gwrych Castle.
Series 12 35:00
35:00Michael Portillo travels from Aberystwyth into the Cambrian Mountains at Devil's Bridge, and finishes in Newtown, Powys.
25:00Michael Portillo explores Snowdonia, the town of Porthmadog, and the village Portmeirion, crafted by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis.
Series 9 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo travels to the steel city of Sheffield where he discovers an early 20th century steam engine, before heading to Nantwich.
30:00Michael Portillo conducts important research in an historic York tea room, discovers Leeds' textile heritage, and investigates Bradford's musical heritage.
25:00Michael Portillo embarks on the first leg of a journey from East Yorkshire to Caernarfon, beginning by travelling from Hull to Malton.
25:00Travelling from Plymouth to the Lizard, Michael Portillo investigates the first radio signal to be sent across the Atlantic.
Series 12 25:00
25:00Michael Portillo continues his railway tour of north Wales in the coastal city of Bangor, before turning south to Betws y Coed, the gateway to Snowdonia.
25:00Michael Portillo's 1930s Bradshaw's-inspired railway tour of north Wales takes him to Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Anglesey.
35:00Michael Portillo visits Crewe, a town steeped in railway history, to investigate the making of cinema classic The Night Mail during the 1930s.
25:00Michael Portillo is in Suffolk on the last leg of his tour of East Anglia, visiting the racecourse at Newmarket and the Roman Catholic shrine at Walsingham.
25:00Michael Portillo heads for the Hertfordshire village of Perry Green to learn about Henry Moore became one of the defining artists of British modernism.
25:00Michael Portillo's travels resume in leafy Hertfordshire, where he attempts a canoe slalom course, and visits the estate of author Barbara Cartland.
35:00Michael Portillo continues through East Anglia, where he discovers the Essex origins of the BBC and joins the Women's Land Army to pick damsons at Tiptree.
25:00Michael Portillo explores East Anglia between the wars, beginning at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, where archaeologists discovered a 27-metre-long Anglo-Saxon ship in 1939.
25:00Michael Portillo heads for Farnborough, Hampshire, famous today for its airshow and home to what was then the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
25:00Michael Portillo resumes his tour of the Home Counties in the historic town of Guildford. Eventually he crosses into Hampshire to reach Aldershot.