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 ventures deep underground onto London's newest railway - the Elizabeth Line - enjoying a smooth ride from Paddington to Tottenham Court Road.
Catching up on Great British Railway Journeys?
Don't want to miss an episode anymore? Set up a free alarm and receive an email when new episodes are available. Handy!
25:00Michael Portillo visits London's South Bank, where the 1951 Festival of Britain drew more than eight and a half million visitors.
35:00Michael Portillo travels from London's Docklands to the Barbican, examining the story of the arrival at Tilbury in 1948 of over a thousand passengers from the Caribbean.
25:00Michael Portillo continues his post-war exploration of northwest England in Bradford and Shipley, before ending at Hebden Bridge.
25:00In Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Michael Portillo visits the National Coal Mining Museum for England at Caphouse Colliery.
25:00Michael Portillo visits Oldham's Victorian theatre, attends a knife-making workshop in Sheffield and goes to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Wakefield.
35:00Michael Portillo is in Greater Manchester, hearing about the birth of the NHS and the first episode of Coronation Street.
25:00Michael Portillo explores the Britain of his youth, starting at Preston's Fulwood Barracks and heading to Bury Bolton Street Station in Greater Manchester.
Series 13
25:00
25:00Michael Portillo discovers the origins of Harry Beck's map of the London Underground, and explores the headquarters of Churchill's war cabinet.
25:00Michael 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.
35:00Michael Portillo travels to Hampstead, where he learns more about the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, before making his way to Islington.
25:00Michael Portillo continues his travels through the capital in the heart of London's East End, making his way from Hackney Wick to Oxford Circus.
25:00Michael Portillo continues his travels in Greater London, ending up in Kennington to learn about the childhood of Charlie Chaplin.
25:00Michael Portillo reaches the Kent seaside resort of Herne Bay, eventually crosses the North Downs to Lenham, and pays a visit to Leeds Castle.
35:00Michael Portillo heads to Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to Lord Beauchamp, and in Margate he discovers the connection to TS Eliot.
25:00Michael 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.
25:00Michael Portillo arrives in Hassocks and the beautiful Sussex village of Ditchling, before making his way to the village of Benenden.
25:00Michael Portillo takes a trip in a Second World War Spitfire above Biggin Hill aerodrome.
Series 16
Michael's exploration of Essex is drawing to a close. He visits Colchester, which was first mentioned in AD77 and proudly claims to be Britain’s oldest recorded town.
Arriving in the Essex market town of Witham, Michael heads into the countryside to visit Terling Place, one of the county’s great country houses.