The BEST episodes of Great British Railway Journeys
Every episode of Great British Railway Journeys ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Great British Railway Journeys!
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways have changed it, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
#1 - Brighton to Crystal Palace
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/2011
Michael finds out about Brighton's Victorian aquarium
#2 - Pontefract to Bridlington
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/7/2010
Michael searches for the last liquorice grower in Pontefract, discovers how the railways turned Hull into one of the largest white fish ports in the world and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.
#3 - Criccieth to Caernarfon
Season 9 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/19/2018
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 braves the fastest zip line in the world - stretching 1,500 feet across a vast slate quarry. He uncovers a bitter industrial dispute between quarrymen and the owner of the pit, Lord Penrhyn, which divided the community at the beginning of the 20th century.Riding north Wales's splendid heritage railways, Michael visits the home of British mountaineering, Pen y Gwryd, to hear how an Edwardian journalist and poet created a climbing community, which grew to include men who would conquer Everest in the 1950s. Michael meets the grandson of one of his political heroes, the Edwardian Prime Minister David Lloyd George, at his birthplace in Criccieth. At the impressive 13th-century fortress of Caernarfon, built by English King Edward I, Michael discovers the early 20th-century history behind the ceremony now traditional at the royal investiture of a Prince of Wales.
#6 - Kingston upon Hull to Malton, North Yorkshire
Season 9 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/15/2018
#7 - Plymouth to The Lizard
Season 9 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/12/2018
Michael Portillo boldly goes to the moon by the way of the Cornish Rivera Express!
#8 - Taunton to Newton Abbot
Season 9 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/11/2018
Michael Portillo is led a merry dance at Stogumber - all in the name of fertility.
#9 - Newport to Clevedon/Yatton/Bristol Channel
Season 9 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/10/2018
Michael Portillo prepares the Airbus 380 for a smooth landing at Fliton.
#10 - Chichester to Cowes
Season 9 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/4/2018
Michael Portillo encounteres an Edwardian motoring due patronised by King Edward VII.
#11 - Croydon to Shoreham-by-Sea
Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/3/2018
Michael Portillo uncovers a once-celebrated, now forgotten composer with an uncannily familiar name.
#12 - Letchworth Garden City to Herne Hill
Season 9 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/2/2018
Michael Portillo discovers a favoured haunt of King Edward VII.
#13 - Cromer to Cambridge
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2018
Michael Portillo takes a pot shot at the sport of kings at a country estate.
#14 - The Flying Scotsman
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/2017
A once-in-a-lifetime journey aboard the most famous train in history, the Flying Scotsman, begins for Michael before dawn at London's King's Cross. Excitement builds on the platform as the world's media, fans and 300 passengers await the arrival of railway royalty.
#15 - Dereham to Cromer
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/7/2011
Michael gets the rare chance to drive a heritage diesel train.
#16 - Settle to Garsdale
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/12/2010
Michael returns to the historic Settle-Carlisle line to find out what has happened to it since he helped save it in the 1980s. Along the way, he explores the magnificent Ribblehead viaduct, finds out about the navvies who helped to build it and catches a steam train along the line.
#17 - Swanwick to Brownsea Island
Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/5/2018
Michael Portillo builds a bivouac with a group of scouts and learns about war horses.
#18 - York to Saltaire
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/19/2011
Michael Portillo takes a Turkish bath in the famous spa town of Harrogate.
#19 - Batley to Sheffield
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/20/2011
Michael Portillo finds out about shoddy, a successful 19th-century recycling industry.
#20 - Langley Mill to Melton Mowbray
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/21/2011
Michael finds out how trains transformed the traditional British sport of fox hunting.
#21 - London Bridge to Chatham
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/24/2011
Michael visits the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to see how the railways standardised time, takes a walk through the world's first underwater tunnel at Rotherhithe and explores the historic Dockyards at Chatham
#22 - Aylesford to Tunbridge Wells
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/25/2011
Michael explores the life of Victorian hop pickers, finds out about Maidstone's revolutionary paper industry and discovers how the railways turned cricket into a national sport
#23 - Stroud to Bath
Season 7 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/20/2016
Michael takes pot luck on the snooker table as he investigates the Victorian origins of the game and finds out what it takes to produce the fine green cloth which smoothes the path of the balls. In Cirencester, he ploughs a crooked furrow at the Royal Agricultural College before taking tea with the ladies in Bath, where he also discovers a scandalous novel written by an eccentric recluse, once the wealthiest man in England.
#24 - Whitland to Swansea
Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/8/2018
Michael Portillo discovers the restored home of Dylan Thomas.
#25 - Pontyclun to Ebbw Vale Town
Season 9 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/9/2018
Michael Portillo strikes gold at the Royal Mint in Llantisant.