Great British Railway Journeys
8.1
2010
Documentary
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
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- Cast:
- Michael Portillo
Episode 15 : Tewkesbury to Filton
July. 21,2023
Michael visits the fairy-tale castle of Eastnor at the foot of the Malvern Hills, before heading to the Severn Estuary and Filton, the centre of Britain's postwar aviation industry.
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Episode 14 : Wolverhampton to Cheltenham
July. 20,2023
At the African and Caribbean Heritage Centre in Wolverhampton, Michael finds out about the impact of Enoch Powell's 1968 speech on immigration in Wolverhampton and across the nation.
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Episode 13 : Long Itchington to Moseley
July. 19,2023
Michael Portillo’s railway journey reaches the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, where work is underway the biggest project of new railway infrastructure in Britain for a hundred years: HS2.
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Episode 12 : Coventry to Leamington Spa
July. 18,2023
In Coventry, Michael recalls the destruction by the Luftwaffe of the city’s Gothic cathedral in November 1940, before heading to Leamington Spa to visit the Guide Dogs for the Blind National Centre.
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Episode 11 : Derby to Hinckley
July. 17,2023
Michael Portillo explores the postwar Britain of his youth on a railway journey from the Midlands to the West Country, beginning in the city of Derby.
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Episode 10 : Brandon to Cambridge
June. 30,2023
Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period, heading from RAF Lakenheath to the city of Cambridge.
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Episode 9 : Felixstowe to Norwich
June. 29,2023
Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, starting on the seafront of Felixstowe and finishing in the plate glass campus of the University of East Anglia.
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Episode 8 : Paddington to Ongar
June. 28,2023
Michael Portillo ventures deep underground onto London’s newest railway: the Elizabeth Line. He travels across London before transferring to the Epping Ongar Heritage Railway.
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Episode 7 : Waterloo to Regent's Park
June. 27,2023
Michael Portillo continues his railway exploration of the post-war Britain of his youth on a journey from London to Cambridge, starting at South Bank.
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Episode 6 : Tilbury to Barbican
June. 26,2023
Michael Portillo travels through the Britain of his youth from London’s Docklands and East End to the ‘city within a city’, the Barbican.
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Episode 5 : Bradford to Hebden Bridge
June. 24,2023
Michael Portillo continues his postwar exploration of north west England in Bradford, Shipley and Hebden Bridge. In Centenary Square in Bradford, Michael encounters Bradford’s literary giant JB Priestley, author of An Inspector Calls. Just north of Bradford, at Shipley station, Michael discovers a nature reserve in the middle of a car park that's home to more than 14 species of butterfly and moth.
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Episode 3 : Oldham to Wakefield
June. 21,2023
Greater Manchester’s Metrolink tram delivers Michael to the former cotton town of Oldham. He heads across to Wakefield and the striking postwar sculptures of Barbara Hepworth.
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