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 2024. A total of 175 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in January 2025.
Last episode
30:00
30:00Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo travels from Greenock to Larkhall, visiting the Glasgow School of Art and learning how to make sourdough in a bakery in Strathaven.
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30:00Michael Portillo embarks on the first leg of a journey through southern Scotland from west to east, beginning in the town of Ayr.
Series 9
35:00
35:00Michael Portillo travels between Taunton and Newton Abbot, joining in with a fertility dance in Stogumber, and visiting a celebrated garden at Hestercombe.
25:00Michael Portillo arrives in Newport, where he learns about the heroism of a young boy who was awarded the Albert Medal.
30:00Michael Portillo travels from Pontyclun to Ebbw Vale in Wales, visiting the Royal Mint in Llantrisant and Cardiff Arms Park.
30:00Michael Portillo embarks on the first leg of a journey from the coalfields of South Wales to the southernmost tip of Cornwall.
35:00In Dorset, Michael Portillo visits Brownsea Island, where Robert Baden Powell began the scout movement in the early 20th century.
25:00Michael Portillo visits places of interest in West Sussex and Hampshire, including Southsea's King's Theatre.
30:00Michael 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.
30:00Michael Portillo explores Edwardian utopia in Letchworth, where he meets a fourth generation citizen who introduces him to the town's community spirit.
30:00Michael Portillo embarks on train journeys through Edwardian Britain, exploring the grand estates of Norfolk and a bivouac on Brownsea Island on the way.
Series 8 25:00
25:00On the last leg of Michael Portillo's long journey from Wexford to Westport, a fashionable Victorian seaweed bath is followed by a steamy scene in Ballina.
30:00Michael Portillo continues his Irish journey from Dromod to Sligo. Along the way he discovers how the landscape inspired WB Yeats and learns to make a potato pancake.
30:00Michael Portillo continues his journey across Ireland, travelling from Navan to Mullingar, where he uncovers a controversial Victorian dig at the sacred Hill of Tara.
35:00At Trinity College, Dublin, Michael Portillo discovers one of Ireland's greatest treasures, and also explores the house and gardens of Powerscourt in County Wicklow.
25:00Michael Portillo begins a journey across Ireland, starting in the port of Wexford, where he takes to the seas in a 100-year-old lifeboat.
30:00Michael Portillo embarks on the final leg of his journey following the route of the North Country Continental service, heading to Harwich, Essex.
30:00Michael Portillo travels from Gainsborough to Ely, along the way learning about a Victorian machine that changed shopping for ever and the poet Alfred Tennyson.
35:00Michael starts his journey in Chapeltown, Sheffield, following what was once known as the North Country Continental service, and finishing in Doncaster.
25:00Michael Portillo's journey to the North Sea continues and he investigates the Victorian scientist who invented modern atomic theory.