Catch up TV
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.\n\nOn an ancient pilgrim route into Canterbury, Michael learns how the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 prompted a surge in pilgrimage to the cathedral. The pretty seaside town of Broadstairs is Michael’s next stop - one of Charles Dickens’s favourite places, the town draws many fans of the author’s work.\n\nIn Margate, Michael admires the striking Turner Contemporary art gallery, set on the now- transformed seafront.
Source: BBC 2
Most recent episodes of Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
03-05-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
02-05-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
01-05-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
30-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
29-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
26-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
25-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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. ...
24-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
23-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
22-04-2024
BBC 2
Most popular episodes of Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
23-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
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 ...
25-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 2: 10. Grimsby To Humberston Fitties
Michael Portillo has reached Lincolnshire, where his coastal railway journey from Middlesbrough ends. In Grimsby, he investigates an important new stage in the town’s hist ...
30-08-2023
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 3: 8. Porthmadog To Anglesey
Michael Portillo steams through the glorious scenery of the Snowdonia National Park on one of Britain’s greatest heritage lines, the Welsh Highland Railway. Stopping off a ...
17-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 3: 3. Tintagel To St Austell
Crossing the River Tamar via Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s magnificent Royal Albert Bridge, Michael leaves Devon for Cornwall and the rugged Atlantic coast of its northern sho ...
10-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 1: 14. Alnmouth To Bamburgh
Michael Portillo travels the length of the magnificent Northumbrian coastline with its glorious beaches and grandiose castles.\n\nIn the village of Alnmouth, he takes to the wav ...
31-08-2023
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 1: 6. Inverness To The Cairngorms
Michael Portillo crosses the Culloden Viaduct aboard the Caledonian Sleeper to arrive bright and early in the coastal city of Inverness, from where he heads north on a magnifice ...
01-08-2023
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 2: 7. Whitby To Robin Hood's Bay
Michael Portillo continues his railway adventure at Whitby, where he explores the port’s shipbuilding and seafaring heritage.\n\nIn Grosmont, Michael boards the first stea ...
27-07-2023
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 3: 7. Harlech To Abedaron
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey in north Wales, tracking the coastline north from Harlech to skirt the Llyn Peninsula. \n\nBeginning on the shifting sands of Morf ...
16-04-2024
BBC 2
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Series 2: 2. Liverpool To Blackpool
From the Isle of Man, Michael Portillo crosses the Irish Sea, bound for the mighty port of Liverpool and its historic waterfront. \n\nAt the International Slavery Museum in Roya ...
22-06-2023
BBC 2