Great British Railway Journeys Catch up, Series 14: 2. Urmston to New Islington on BBC 2

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 nation in the years after the Second World War. \n\nAt Trafford General Hospital, he investigates the birth of the National Health Service. William Roache, star of the nation’s longest-running soap, Coronation Street, meets Michael to tell him about the first episode, broadcast in 1960.\n\nAt the city’s Science and Industry Museum, Michael encounters a fellow post-war 'Baby', a replica of the first computer in the world to run a stored programme and the forerunner of all modern computers. Close by at Manchester University, Michael is introduced to the latest supercomputer, a million times more powerful than Baby, the SpiNNaker machine. \n\nThe tram takes Michael east to New Islington, where he admires a fresh new look for an old textile mill.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 4. Gatwick Airport To Royal Tunbridge Wells

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the spectacular countryside of the Weald in Surrey, Sussex and Kent continues - this time, aboard the Gatwick Express train, which c ...

03-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 3. Dorking To Lingfield

Michael Portillo’s railway tour of the Weald reaches the spectacular Surrey countryside, where he finds a surprising connection to the darker reaches of the universe.\n\nI ...

02-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 2. Hildenborough To Robertsbridge

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the historic wooded region of south east England, known as the Weald, continues from Tonbridge, at the heart of the area's rail netw ...

01-09-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 1. Paddock Wood To Frant

Michael Portillo takes to the rails to explore one of Britain’s oldest surviving landscapes, the woods and pasture of the Weald in south east England. Between the chalk hi ...

31-08-2026

BBC 2

All episodes

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

All episodes

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

All episodes

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

All episodes

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

All episodes

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

All episodes

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

All episodes