Great British Railway Journeys Season 9 Episodes

Episode 1

Cromer to Cambridge

29 mins

Michael follows in the footsteps of King Edward VII, from a grand estate in Norfolk to a bivouac on Brownsea Island. He learns the ropes aboard a wherry, tap dances on Cromer Pier and investigates the student days of E.M. Forster.

Episode 2

Letchworth Garden City to Herne Hill

29 mins

Michael visits an Edwardian utopia with a radical plan at its heart. Heading into London he visits The Ritz hotel, samples King Edward VII's favourite tipple and discovers how the London Underground continues to shape the capital.

Episode 3

Croydon to Shoreham-by-Sea

29 mins

Michael rediscovers a once-famous, now-forgotten, mixed-race composer. At Three Bridges he inspects a new fleet of trains. He learns about a literary connection to Lewes and visits Britain's oldest licensed airport.

Episode 4

Chichester to Cowes

29 mins

In Chicester, Michael learns about an Edwardian motoring duo. He visits the majestic King's Theatre at Southsea. Crossing the Solent he explores the Isle of Wight.

Episode 5

Swanwick to Brownsea Island

29 mins

Michael visits the island where the Scout movement began and learns how to make a bivouac. He searches out some unsung heroes of WWI in the New Forest. He examines beach huts in Bournemouth.

Episode 6

Whitland to Swansea

29 mins

Michael travels through South Wales and South-West England to the tip of Cornwall. He starts his journey with some petrol-heads on Pendine Sands, learns about the 1911 national rail strike and visits Dylan Thomas' house in Swansea.

Episode 7

Pontyclun to Ebbw Vale Town

Michael Portillo strikes gold at the Royal Mint in Llantisant.

Episode 8

Newport to Clevedon/Yatton/Bristol Channel

Michael prepares the Airbus 380 for a smooth landing at Fliton.

Episode 9

Taunton to Newton Abbot

Michael Portillo is led a merry dance at Stogumber - all in the name of fertility.

Episode 10

Plymouth to The Lizard

Michael boldly goes to the moon by the way of the Cornish Rivera Express.

Episode 11

Hull to Malton

Episode 12

York to Frizinghall

Episode 13

Sheffield to Nantwich

Episode 14

Liverpool to Dolgarrog

Episode 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 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.