Catch up TV

This episode is currently not available.

Series 2: 16. Weymouth to Lulworth



Michael is on a rail journey across the southern coast of England, beginning in Dorset. In Portland Harbour, Michael takes to the water with four-time Paralympian Hannah Stodel. After a quick stop on the distinctive 18-mile-long Chesil Beach, Michael makes his way to Abbotsbury Swannery to take in the amazing sight of their 800-strong colony of mute swans. \n\nIn the county town of Dorchester, Michael hears the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who paved the way for today’s trade unions. Finally, he visits the ghostly village of Tyneham, whose residents were ordered by the British Army to evacuate temporarily just days before Christmas in 1943 but never returned.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash

Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the eastern reaches of England is drawing to a close. His travels today begin on the smallest public railway in the world, the Wells ...

26-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market

Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market

The oldest and largest mammoth ever found in Britain was discovered by walkers on the beach at West Runton in Norfolk. Michael Portillo examines a replica of the smallest bone i ...

25-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth

Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth

Michael Portillo’s East Anglian coastal railway journey takes him to the treacherous waters off the Norfolk coast, which have sunk many ships and cost many lives. Michael ...

24-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 17. Woodbridge To Southwold

Series 3: 17. Woodbridge To Southwold

Michael Portillo reaches the Deben estuary on his coastal railway journey around eastern England. At Woodbridge, he is plunged in at the deep end on a rafting challenge with the ...

23-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness

Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness

Michael Portillo embarks on a new railway journey around the coast of the east of England. He begins in the Thames estuary, where creeks separate Canvey Island from the mainland ...

22-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham

Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham

Michael Portillo’s railway adventure zig-zagging the coasts of the English Channel and the Thames estuary nears its end on the north Kent coast. The pretty and historic to ...

21-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable

Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable

Michael Portillo’s railway exploration of the Channel coastline and Thames estuary via Calais has reached the Isle of Thanet. Flat and temperate, it is excellent terrain f ...

18-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate

Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate

Michael Portillo’s railway adventure along the north and south coasts of the English Channel resumes in Dover, where he recalls the biggest evacuation in military history. ...

17-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet

Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet

Michael Portillo travels through the longest undersea tunnel in the world on the Eurotunnel shuttle rail service from Folkestone to Calais.\n\nIn Calais, Michael is reminded tha ...

16-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 11. Eastbourne To Rye

Series 3: 11. Eastbourne To Rye

Michael Portillo sets off on a new railway adventure to explore the twin shores of the English Channel and the estuaries of the Thames and Medway.\n\nAt Cuckmere Haven, he enjoy ...

15-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Most popular episodes of Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 2: 18. Southampton To Isle Of Wight

Series 2: 18. Southampton To Isle Of Wight

Michael is in Southampton, one of the busiest ports on the south coast of England and home to the National Oceanography Centre. From the port, Michael takes a ferry to the Isle ...

25-10-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 13. Morpeth To Amble

Series 1: 13. Morpeth To Amble

Michael Portillo explores the wild and rugged coastline of Northumberland by rail. He begins today in Morpeth, where he finds a historic collection of Northumbrian bagpipes and ...

22-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 2: 3. Morecambe To Grange-over-sands

Series 2: 3. Morecambe To Grange-over-sands

Michael Portillo continues his rail journey. He looks out across the vast and beautiful Morecambe Bay and joins one of the town’s last shrimpers to learn how potted shrimp ...

26-06-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 2: 13. Bangor To Belfast

Series 2: 13. Bangor To Belfast

Michael Portillo is in Bangor, County Down, en route to the Northern Irish capital, Belfast. Admiring the handsome waterfront houses, he recalls the resort’s prosperity af ...

20-09-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 2. Exeter To Plymouth

Series 3: 2. Exeter To Plymouth

Michael Portillo reaches Devon’s county town, Exeter, dominated since the Middle Ages by its magnificent gothic cathedral. Michael joins the stonemasons charged with conse ...

02-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash

Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the eastern reaches of England is drawing to a close. His travels today begin on the smallest public railway in the world, the Wells ...

26-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 2: 14. Carlingford To Dublin

Series 2: 14. Carlingford To Dublin

Michael Portillo continues his railway journey along the Atlantic and Irish Sea coasts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.\n\nFrom Newry, he sets off to cross the b ...

27-09-2023

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 15. Farne Islands To Berwick-upon-tweed

Series 1: 15. Farne Islands To Berwick-upon-tweed

Michael’s journey along the coast of Northumberland continues towards the Farne Islands, takes in the holy island of Lindisfarne, and finishes in England’s northernm ...

24-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 24. Carmarthen To Pembroke

Series 1: 24. Carmarthen To Pembroke

Michael Portillo travels the breathtaking rural coastline of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire in south Wales.\n\nFrom Carmarthen Bay, he tracks up the estuary and River Towy to ...

06-06-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

Great Coastal Railway Journeys

Great Coastal Railway Journeys - Series 1: 18. Oban To Staffa

Series 1: 18. Oban To Staffa

From the fishing port and ferry terminal of Oban, Michael heads to the Hebridean archipelago. En route to the Isle of Mull, he watches eagerly for sea mammals in a stretch of wa ...

29-05-2024

BBC 2

All episodes

BBC 2

© 2026 - Catchupplayer.co.uk