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 285 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in July 2025.
Last episode
25:00
25:00Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo explores the West Country between the wars, setting off from the Cornish seaside resort of St Ives and ending in the former mining village of St Day.
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25:00Michael Portillo visits Lossiemouth and Inverness. His journey ends at Loch Ness, where he joins a Deep Scan research team searching for the elusive monster.
35:00Michael Portillo travels from Dundee to Aberdeen, stopping off at Glamis Castle, where the Queen Mother grew up, and making an excursion into the Eastern Highlands.
25:00Michael Portillo reaches the Westerglen Transmitting Station in Falkirk, before visiting Gleneagles and Berry Town on route to the city of Dundee.
25:00Michael Portillo is in Northumbria, discovering what lay behind a national initiative to plant one of the largest manmade woodlands in Europe.
25:00Beginning in Jarrow, Michael uncovers the desperation which led 200 men to march 300miles to Westminster in order to petition the Government for work.
Series 10
35:00
35:00Michael Portillo travels from Warwick to Rye in East Sussex. En route he discovers how the Edwardians' attitude towards cultivation bears fruit even now.
25:00Michael Portillo journeys from Piccadilly Circus to Gravesend, visiting an exotic West End store that was popular among Victorian women.
25:00Michael Portillo reaches the capital on his rail journey. In Ealing, he is transformed for the silver screen by expert hair and make-up.
25:00Michael Portillo picks up his journey from Warwick to Rye. In Reading, he traces the origins of education for workers. In Cliveden he explores an Italianate mansion.
35:00Michael Portillo sets off on the first leg of a journey from the Midlands to Rye in East Sussex, beginning by travelling from Warwick to Radley in Oxfordshire.
25:00Michael Portillo visits the University of Glasgow's Officer Training Corps, then heads to Helensburgh, finding a group of artists known as the Glasgow Boys.
25:00Michael Portillo journeys from Glasgow to Cumbrae, learning about a forgotten Scottish expedition to the Antarctic.
25:00Michael Portillo journeys from Northern Ireland across the water to Scotland. Leaving from the seaport of Larne, he reaches Stranraer and the Mull of Galloway.
35:00On a journey from Belfast to Portrush, Michael Portillo investigates the work of author and Narnia creator CS Lewis, and visits the Royal Portrush Golf Club.
25:00Michael Portillo sets off on the first leg of a journey across Northern Ireland to Argyll and Bute, beginning by travelling from Newry to Portadown.
Series 16
Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the spectacular countryside of the Weald in Surrey, Sussex and Kent continues - this time, aboard the Gatwick Express train.
Series 10 25:00
25:00Armed with his Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo reaches Birmingham and learns how a radical reformer would make his mark on the 'city of a thousand trades'.
25:00Michael Portillo travels from Maltby to Hinckley, trying to understand the appeal of Marmite, before a look around the Triumph motorcycle factory.
35:00Michael Portillo visits Heaton Park in Manchester, where one of the first open air concerts was held in 1909, before travelling on to the town of Oldham.