Great British Railway Journeys Catch up, Series 14: 5. Bradford to Hebden Bridge on BBC 2

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’s literary giant JB Priestley, author of An Inspector Calls. In the Bradford Royal Infirmary, Michael traces the hospital's pioneering history of chemotherapy and learns how new drugs to impede the spread of cancer are being developed at Bradford’s Institute of Cancer Therapeutics. \n\nJust north of Bradford, at Shipley station, Michael discovers a nature reserve in the middle of a car park that's home to more than 14 species of butterfly and moth. And the Calder Valley Line delivers Michael to the pretty station at Hebden Bridge, once a mill town in decline but today popular with many same-sex couples.

Source: BBC 2

Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys

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

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 20. Colchester To Chappel And Wakes Colne

Michael's exploration of Essex is drawing to a close. He visits Colchester, which was first mentioned in AD 77 and proudly claims to be Britain’s oldest recorded town. He ...

11-10-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 19. Witham To Saffron Walden

Arriving in the Essex market town of Witham, Michael heads into the countryside to visit Terling Place, one of the county’s great country houses. He hears how in the late ...

04-10-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 18. Chelmsford To Tollesbury

Michael Portillo’s exploration of Essex reaches Chelmsford. At a huge construction site on the outskirts of the city he discovers Beaulieu Park, the first railway station ...

27-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 17. Romford To The Blackwater Estuary

Michael’s exploration of Essex continues in Romford. He arrives on the London Overground’s Liberty Line to visit a state-of-the-art rail operating centre responsible ...

20-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes

Great British Railway Journeys

Series 16: 16. Loughton To Audley End

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey across Essex. Beginning on the fringes of London, he takes the underground to the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, with its gnarled hornb ...

14-09-2025

BBC 2

All episodes