Great British Railway Journeys Catch up, Series 12: 2. Stoke Mandeville to Beaconsfield on BBC 2

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 12: 2. Stoke Mandeville to Beaconsfield

Michael Portillo continues his travels through England's Home Counties at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, where he discovers the legacy of a German Jewish doctor who fled the Nazis to settle in Britain. Dr Ludwig Guttman’s pioneering treatment for spinal injuries sustained on the battlefields of World War II eventually led to what we know today as the Paralympics. European wheelchair basketball silver medallist Ella Beaumont invites Michael to train with her in a wheelchair.\n\nMichael heads through the Chiltern Hills to Princes Risborough, where an infamous motor sports event took place until it was banned in 1925. Michael joins local petrolheads who have recently revived the Kop Hill climb, now with 21st-century health and safety. Michael braves the ascent in a side car.\n\nIn one of the most densely wooded areas of England, Michael discovers a beautiful factory that has produced design classics since its foundation in 1920. The grandson of the company’s Italian founder tells Michael about the origins and success of the Ercol brand, and Michael finds out how the furniture is crafted today.\n\nBeaconsfield beckons to Michael’s delight, as he revisits his much-loved childhood haunt, Bekonscot Model Village. With this miniature world frozen in time in the 1930s, he could wish for no better guide than his 1936 Bradshaw’s.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 10. Brandon To Cambridge

Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period. At RAF Lakenheath, he discovers a slice of America dropped into the Britis ...

10-02-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 9. Felixstowe To Norwich

Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, beginning with the seafront at Felixstowe, where in January 1953, the town was engulfed in the worst floo ...

05-02-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 8. Paddington To Ongar

Michael Portillo ventures deep underground onto London’s newest railway: the Elizabeth Line. Emerging into the sunshine in Bedford Square, he recalls the choking smogs whi ...

04-02-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 7. Waterloo To Regent's Park

Michael Portillo continues his railway exploration of the post-war Britain of his youth on a journey from London to Cambridge. \n\nHe begins on the capital’s South Bank, ...

03-02-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 6. Tilbury To Barbican

Michael Portillo travels through the Britain of his youth from London’s Docklands and East End to the ‘city within a city’, the Barbican. \n\nAt Tilbury, he t ...

29-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 5. Bradford To Hebden Bridge

Michael Portillo continues his postwar exploration of north west England in Bradford, Shipley and Hebden Bridge.\n\nIn Centenary Square in Bradford, Michael encounters Bradford& ...

28-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 4. Wakefield To Leeds

From Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Michael visits the National Coal Mining Museum for England at Caphouse Colliery. He pauses to admire the tall spire of Wakefield Cathedral and it ...

27-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 3. Oldham To Wakefield

Greater Manchester’s Metrolink tram delivers Michael to the former cotton town of Oldham on the edge of the Peak District. In the stalls of the Oldham Coliseum, the town&r ...

22-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 2. Urmston To New Islington

Michael Portillo’s railway journey through north west England from Preston to Hebden Bridge reaches Greater Manchester, where Michael celebrates new beginnings for the nat ...

21-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 14: 1. Preston To Rawtenstall

Michael Portillo strikes out to explore the Britain of his youth. He’s a 'boomer', born in the decade after the end of the Second World War, and he recalls the optimism an ...

20-01-2026

BBC 2

All episodes