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 2025. A total of 161 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in July 2026.
Last episode
35:00
35:00Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo visits places of interest in West Sussex and Hampshire, including Southsea's King's Theatre.
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25:00Michael Portillo travels from Croydon to Shoreham-by-Sea, hearing the story of a once-celebrated composer and visiting the oldest licensed airport in the UK.
Series 15
At the home of Scottish football, Glasgow’s Hampden Park stadium, Michael admires the oldest football trophy in the world and hears how the 'passing game' was born there.
Series 9 35:00
35:00Michael Portillo explores Edwardian utopia in Letchworth, where he meets a fourth generation citizen who introduces him to the town's community spirit.
25:00Michael Portillo embarks on train journeys through Edwardian Britain, exploring the grand estates of Norfolk and a bivouac on Brownsea Island on the way.
Series 15
Michael Portillo boards the West Highland Line to begin a railway journey across Scotland’s central belt, from the Arrochar Alps to the Loch of the Lowes.
Michael goes on a tour around Heathrow Airport, taking an eerie walk around the mothballed Terminal 1 building and ending up atop the iconic 87.5 metre control tower.
Michael Portillo reaches Havant, where the Scalextric factory was located, and Haslemere, the surprise birthplace of a musical phenomenon – the plastic recorder.
Michael Portillo reaches England’s south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain, beginning on the steam-powered Swanage Railway in Dorset.
Michael Portillo joins Navy Wings pilots for a spectacular close formation flight in the skies over Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton and visits the magnificent Elizabethan mansion of Longleat.
Beginning at London Marylebone, the last great Victorian railway terminus to be built in the capital, Michael Portillo embarks on a postwar exploration of Britain’s southern counties.
Series 14 25:00
25:00From Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, Michael Portillo visits Coleford in the Forest of Dean, Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, and Bristol Temple Meads.
25:00Michael Portillo stops in Wolverhampton, where he finds out about the impact of Enoch Powell's 1968 speech, and also visits Cheltenham.
35:00Michael Portillo sees the work being done for the new HS2 railway in Warwickshire, and in Stratford-upon-Avon he learns about the founding of the RSC.
25:00Michael Portillo hears of the destruction of Coventry's gothic cathedral by the German Luftwaffe, and visits the factory where the London taxi is built.
25:00Michael Portillo journeys from the Midlands to the West Country, visiting Derby's famous 19th-century railway works and the Walkers crisps factory in Leicester.
25:00Michael Portillo explores RAF Lakenheath, the market town of Brandon on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, and he ends his journey in Cambridge.
35:00Michael Portillo explores Felixstowe, which suffered catastrophic flooding in 1953, and in Norwich, he admires the Norman Cathedral.
25:00Michael Portillo ventures deep underground onto London's newest railway - the Elizabeth Line - enjoying a smooth ride from Paddington to Tottenham Court Road.
25:00Michael Portillo visits London's South Bank, where the 1951 Festival of Britain drew more than eight and a half million visitors.