Great British Railway Journeys — Series 15
Documentary series in which Michael Portillo travels the country by train.
Episodes
E01 Denham to Swindon
Mar 18, 2024 · 28m
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.
E02 Chippenham to Yeovil
Mar 19, 2024 · 29m
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.
E03 Swanage to Portchester
Mar 20, 2024 · 28m
Michael Portillo reaches England’s south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain, beginning on the steam-powered Swanage Railway in Dorset.
E04 Havant to Guildford
Mar 21, 2024 · 28m
Michael Portillo reaches Havant, where the Scalextric factory was located, and Haslemere, the surprise birthplace of a musical phenomenon: the plastic recorder.
E05 Wokingham to Heathrow
Mar 22, 2024 · 28m
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.
E06 Loch Lomond to Kelvinbridge
Mar 25, 2024 · 29m
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.
E07 Glasgow to Cumbernauld
Mar 26, 2024 · 28m
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.
E08 Shawlands to Livingston
Mar 27, 2024 · 29m
Michael Portillo continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure, this time from Glasgow to the capital, Edinburgh.
E09 Edinburgh to Queensferry
Mar 28, 2024 · 28m
At the former Midlothian mining village of Newtongrange, Michael meets the son of a miner whose name loomed large in the disputes of the 1970s and 1980s, 'Red' Mick McGahey.
E10 Dundee to Loch of the Lowes
Mar 29, 2024 · 29m
Michael’s rail journey through post-war Scotland takes him over the River Tay to Dundee on the trail of Joseph McKenzie, the father of modern Scottish photography.
E11 Liverpool to Uttoxeter
Apr 1, 2024 · 29m
Michael Portillo twists and shouts through postwar Liverpool, visiting the strikingly contemporary Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and visits the former home of artist and poet Adrian Henri.
E12 Derby to Nottingham
Apr 2, 2024 · 29m
Michael Portillo reaches the jet age in the Derby suburb of Peartree, where he tours the engineering colossus Rolls-Royce.
E13 Lincoln to York
Apr 3, 2024 · 29m
Michael Portillo’s postwar journey from Merseyside to Teesside resumes at Brayford Pool in Lincoln, where England’s oldest canal, the Fossdyke, meets the city of Lincoln.
E14 York to Skipton
Apr 4, 2024 · 28m
Michael Portillo’s journey finds him in York, a paradise for rail enthusiasts. He discovers the gardens at Harlow Carr in Harrogate and checks into the headquarters of Yorkshire Tea.
E15 Northallerton to Chester-Le-Street
Apr 5, 2024 · 28m
Michael Portillo confronts a detachment of Gurkhas, produces a fine heritage cheese and discovers a monster cracker, which is key to making plastic.
