Great British Railway Journeys

Episode 1

Denham to Swindon

29 mins

Michael Portillo embarks on a post-war exploration of Britain's southern counties, beginning at London Marylebone, the last great Victorian railway terminus to be built in the capital.

Episode 2

Chippenham to Yeovil

Michael Portillo joins Navy Wings pilots for a spectacular close formation flight in the skies over Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. He also visits the magnificent Elizabethan mansion of Longleat, the seat of the Marquesses of Bath.

Episode 3

Swanage to Portchester

Michael Portillo reaches England's south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain. He begins in Dorset on the Swanage Railway, riding a 1940s steam locomotive on the trail of one of Britain's most popular children's authors, Enid Blyton.

Episode 4

Havant to Guildford

Michael Portillo reaches Havant, a town that rapidly expanded after World War II and attracted new manufacturing, including a factory making a new and exciting toy: Scalextric.

Episode 5

Wokingham to Heathrow

Michael begins the final leg of his journey at the Transport Research Laboratory in Wokingham, where they have been keeping Britain's roads safe for 90 years. He then takes a tour around Heathrow Airport, ending up atop the iconic control tower.

Episode 6

Loch Lomond to Kelvinbridge

Michael Portillo boards the West Highland Line to begin a railway journey across Scotland's Central Belt, from the Arrochar Alps to the Loch of the Lowes. At the head of Loch Long, Michael meets a legendary octogenarian munro-bagger.

Episode 7

Glasgow to Cumbernauld

At the home of Scottish football, Glasgow's Hampden Park stadium, Michael admires the oldest football trophy in the world. He then heads to the M8 motorway to see 16 lanes of traffic slicing through the city centre.

Episode 8

Shawlands to Livingston

Michael continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure as he travels from Glasgow to Edinburgh. At Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Michael joins a women's running club, the Bellahouston Harriers, for a warm-up session.

Episode 9

Edinburgh to Queensferry

At the former Midlothian mining village of Newtongrange, Michael meets the son of a miner whose name loomed large in the disputes of the 1970s and 1980s. Michael is then transported back to the wild world of 1970s pop.

Episode 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. Michael also meets a singer-songwriter and veteran of the early Scottish folk scene.

Episode 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 Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

Episode 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 the Derby city centre, Michael is on the trail of a little-known modernist sculptor.

Episode 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 Lincoln. As he makes his way to York, Michael investigates the work of Philip Larkin.

Episode 14

York to Skipton

Michael Portillo's postwar journey from Merseyside to Teesside sees him arrive in York, a paradise for rail enthusiasts. In the company of some of the most famous locomotives ever built, he recalls an old controversy.

Episode 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 journey from Merseyside to Teesside in a re-created 1950s street.