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 2023. A total of 111 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in July 2024.
Last episode
30:00
30:00Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo is in London, where he tracks the River Thames from east to west. Starting in Dagenham, he ends up at the iconic Battersea Power Station.
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30:00Michael Portillo travels to Hampstead, where he learns more about the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, before making his way to Islington.
30:00Michael Portillo continues his travels through the capital in the heart of London's East End, making his way from Hackney Wick to Oxford Circus.
30:00Michael Portillo continues his travels in Greater London, ending up in Kennington to learn about the childhood of Charlie Chaplin.
30:00Michael Portillo reaches the Kent seaside resort of Herne Bay, eventually crosses the North Downs to Lenham, and pays a visit to Leeds Castle.
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.
30:00Michael Portillo arrives in Hassocks and the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, before making his way to the village of Benenden.
30:00Michael Portillo takes a trip in a Second World War Spitfire above Biggin Hill aerodrome.
Series 12
30:00
30:00Michael Portillo travels from Aberystwyth into the Cambrian Mountains at Devil's Bridge, and finishes in Newtown, Powys.
Series 7 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo travels from Stroud to Bath, investigating the Victorian origins of snooker, then taking tea with the ladies at his end destination.
30:00Michael Portillo travels from Redditch to Gloucester, beginning with a look back to Victorian times at a needle manufactory.
30:00Michael Portillo begins the first leg of a journey from Birmingham to Dartmoor, working in a Royal Mail sorting office and learning about the origins of the BMA.
30:00Crossing into Cornwall, Michael Portillo learns about the last bridge to be built by renowned engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
30:00Michael Portillo travels by train from Lymington to Exmouth, discovers how the introduction of the railway inspired Thomas Hardy.
30:00Michael Portillo journeys from Littlehampton to the New Forest, finishing at Beaulieu, where he seizes the opportunity to drive the first motor car.
Series 12 30:00
30:00Michael Portillo explores Snowdonia, the town of Porthmadog, and the village Portmeirion, crafted by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis.
30:00Michael 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.
30:00Michael Portillo's 1930s Bradshaw's-inspired railway tour of north Wales takes him to Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Anglesey.
30:00Michael Portillo visits Crewe, a town steeped in railway history, to investigate the making of cinema classic The Night Mail during the 1930s.