Catch up TV
Series 1 - Todmorden to York
Documentary series with Michael Portillo. Michael travels back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and sees the latest Roman discoveries in York.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 9. Aspatria To Carlisle
Michael Portillo’s railway journey through Cumbria and Dumfriesshire takes him to the rolling countryside around Aspatria to meet a couple who swapped their old life for o ...
05-08-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 8. Maryport To Penrith
Michael Portillo’s railway journey through Cumbria and Dumfriesshire heads to the hills as he follows in the footsteps of the Lakeland poets. In Keswick, he retraces the a ...
29-07-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 7. St Bees To Grange-over-sands
Michael Portillo’s railway tour of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire continues as he travels along the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line. Just outside Egremont, he visits Florence Mine, ...
22-07-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 6. Windermere To Sellafield
Michael Portillo begins a railway tour of the spectacular border counties of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire, starting in the stunning Lake District National Park, where he discovers ...
15-07-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 16: 5. Chichester To Amberley
Michael Portillo’s railway tour of the green and pleasant landscape between the North and South Downs, known as the Weald, nears its conclusion.\n\nNear Chichester, Michae ...
08-07-2025
BBC 2
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 ...
01-07-2025
BBC 2
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 ...
24-06-2025
BBC 2
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 ...
19-06-2025
BBC 2
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 ...
12-06-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 12: 15. Aberystwyth To Newtown
Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael travels from Aberystwyth into the Cambrian Mountains at Devil’s Bridge and finishes in Newtown, Powys.\n\nIn the elega ...
09-06-2025
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 10: 4. Maltby To Hinckley
Michael Portillo continues his tour of Britain’s industrial heartlands guided by his early 20th-century Bradshaw’s. Michael heads for Maltby, where he is caught up w ...
06-06-2024
BBC 2
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 ...
28-04-2025
BBC 2
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 ...
01-05-2025
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& ...
18-09-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 9: 15. Criccieth To Caernarfon
With his Edwardian Bradshaw's railway guide tucked under his arm, Michael Portillo begins the last leg of his journey from Hull to Caernarfon. In picturesque Snowdonia, he brave ...
02-03-2023
BBC 2
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 ...
24-06-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 12: 5. Farnborough To Winchester
Michael is heading for Farnborough, Hampshire, famous today for its airshow and home to what was then the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Richard Gardner of the Farnborough Air S ...
19-05-2025
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 8: 7. Manchester Piccadilly To Silkstone Common
27-02-2018
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 13: 4. Deal To Margate
From the Kent Cinque Port of Deal, Michael heads to the splendid Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to a Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Beauchamp. Michael’s guide ...
20-05-2024
BBC 2
Great British Railway Journeys
Series 5 - London Euston To Cheddington
Michael Portillo begins a journey from London to Leeds. He learns about the Euston Arch before heading to Cheddington, scene of the Great Train Robbery.
26-08-2014
BBC 2