Catch up TV
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 and excitement of rebuilding a nation exhausted by conflict. He relives the agony and the ecstasy of British Rail and marvels at the new society and culture that emerged in postwar Britain. \n \nAt Preston’s Fulwood Barracks in Lancashire, Michael is called up for National Service but fails to impress the drill sergeant. Two veterans share their memories of postwar military action. \n\nAt the Preston Bypass, now part of the M6, he hears how the pioneering project aimed to tackle congestion and link the north of England to the south. In Blackburn, Michael investigates the town’s political heritage and its fiery red-headed MP, Barbara Castle.\n\nAt Bury Bolton Street station in Greater Manchester, Michael meets the volunteers who operate the fabulously preserved East Lancashire Heritage Railway and learns how the Beeching cuts affected rail services in the area.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 15. Northallerton To Chester-le-street
Michael Portillo confronts a detachment of Gurkhas, produces a fine heritage cheese and discovers a monster cracker that is key to making plastic, before ending his postwar jour ...
06-08-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 14. York To Skipton
Michael Portillo’s postwar exploration of Merseyside to Teesside finds him in York, a paradise for rail enthusiasts. In the company of some of the most famous locomotives ...
05-08-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 13. Lincoln To York
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 Lin ...
04-08-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 12. Derby To Nottingham
Michael Portillo reaches the jet age in the Derby suburb of Peartree, where he tours the engineering colossus Rolls-Royce. In Derby city centre, Michael is on the trail of littl ...
30-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 11. Liverpool To Uttoxeter
Michael Portillo twists and shouts through postwar Liverpool, arriving in the city where the 60s burst into life to find the strikingly contemporary concrete and glass Liverpool ...
29-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 10. Dundee To Loch Of The Lowes
Michael’s rail journey through postwar Scotland takes him over the River Tay to Dundee on the trail of Joseph McKenzie, the father of modern Scottish photography.\n\nIn Pe ...
28-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 9. Edinburgh To Queensferry
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. On ...
23-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 8. Shawlands To Livingston
Michael Portillo continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure, this time from Glasgow to the capital, Edinburgh.\n\nAt Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Michael joins a women& ...
22-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 7. Glasgow To Cumbernauld
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. ...
21-07-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 6. Loch Lomond To Kelvinbridge
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. \n\nAt the head ...
16-07-2026
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 2 - Newcastle To Chester-le-street
Michael Portillo visits the first locomotive factory in the world opened by George Stephenson and searches for the lost pit village of Marsden.
03-06-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 12: 12. Rhyl To Anglesey
Michael Portillo’s 1930s Bradshaw’s-inspired railway tour of north Wales takes him to a coast lined by magnificent castles and sweeping bays.\n\nIn Colwyn Bay, he he ...
02-06-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 10. Dumfries To Auchinleck
Michael concludes his journey from Cumbria to Dumfriesshire by crossing the Solway Firth into Scotland, where he visits the beautifully preserved last home of Scotland’s g ...
12-08-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 13. Lincoln To York
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 Lin ...
04-08-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 15: 14. York To Skipton
Michael Portillo’s postwar exploration of Merseyside to Teesside finds him in York, a paradise for rail enthusiasts. In the company of some of the most famous locomotives ...
05-08-2026
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 1 - Bugle To Mevagissey
Michael Portillo visits the largest clay mine in the world, goes pilchard fishing in Mevagissey and finds out how the estate of Heligan shaped British gardens.
12-07-2014
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 13: 9. Dagenham To Battersea
Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide, Michael is in London, where he tracks the River Thames from east to west. Michael is drawn to the industrial eastern suburb by the u ...
28-05-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 1 - Liverpool To Eccles
Michael Portillo journeys around Britain by train. He learns to speak Scouse in Liverpool and finds out about the first railway fatality.
29-09-2014
BBC 2