Great British Railway Journeys: Season 5
Season 5 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Great British Railway Journeys Season 4.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 5 Progress Shield
Manchester to Birkenhead
Jan 6, 2014
Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from Manchester, birthplace of George Bradshaw, the publisher of his trusted guide, to Chesterfield, burial place of George Stephenson, th
Southport to Leyland
Jan 7, 2014
Michael Portillo continues his journey through the North West of England. He begins in the elegant Lancashire resort of Southport, where the railways brought thousands of visitors
Preston to Rochdale
Jan 8, 2014
Michael Portillo continues his journey through the North West of England. He celebrates Victorian trade with the Preston Guild then heads to Rochdale where he discovers a pioneerin
Haworth to Huddersfield
Jan 9, 2014
Michael Portillo begins this leg of his journey from Manchester to Chesterfield at the home of the three Bronte sisters in Worth Valley, Yorkshire. He then moves on to Oakworth whe
Honley to Chesterfield
Jan 10, 2014
On the last leg of his journey from a notorious slum in Manchester to the grandeur of a ducal seat in Derbyshire, Michael Portillo tunes in to the music of the mills and collieries
London Euston to Cheddington
Jan 13, 2014
On the last leg of his journey from a notorious slum in Manchester to the grandeur of a ducal seat in Derbyshire, Michael Portillo tunes in to the music of the mills and collieries
Bletchley to Newport Pagnell
Jan 14, 2014
Michael Portillo continues his journey north on Robert Stephenson's first inter-city railway line from the capital. Along the line at Bletchley he meets one of the Second World War
Northampton to Nuneaton
Jan 15, 2014
Steered by his Bradshaw's Michael Portillo heads north on his journey from London to Leeds, stopping in Northampton, the land of shoemakers, where Victorian 'clickers' have been ma
Leicester to Loughborough
Jan 16, 2014
Guided by his Victorian Bradshaw's Michael Portillo continues his journey north along Robert Stephenson's London to Birmingham line. He begins this leg in Leicester, where he picks
Nottingham to Leeds
Jan 17, 2014
On the final leg of his journey along the first inter-city line to be built from the capital, Michael Portillo rediscovers a once-famous poet in Nottingham. In Mansfield he travels
Southampton to Basingstoke
Jan 20, 2014
Assisted by his Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from Southampton to Wolverhampton. On this first leg, he learns to set the table aboard the luxury line
Winchfield to Crowthorne
Jan 21, 2014
Michael Portillo's journey continues in a military vein, as he views the Duke of Wellington's funeral carriage and visits the army camp at Aldershot.
Wokingham to Bradford-on-Avon
Jan 22, 2014
On the third leg of his journey, Michael Portillo learns how demand from rail commuters fuelled the development of the modern printing press.
Chippenham to Gloucester
Jan 23, 2014
Michael Portillo continues his journey from Southampton to Wolverhampton beginning today in Chippenham, where at Lacock Abbey he discovers how the world's first photographic negati
Cheltenham to Wolverhampton
Jan 24, 2014
On the final leg of his journey from Southampton to Wolverhampton, Michael's first destination is the elegant spa town of Cheltenham, where he discovers a very early locomotive car
Norwich to Brandon
Jan 27, 2014
Guided by his 19th century Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from Norwich to Chichester. On this first leg he explores Norwich's medieval heart. In the ci
Ipswich to Chelmsford
Jan 28, 2014
Guided by his 19th century Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from Norwich to Chichester. On this first leg he explores Norwich's medieval heart. In the ci
Ilford to Rochester
Jan 29, 2014
Steered by his Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo heads along the Essex bank of the Thames before crossing the river into the Garden of England, Kent. He begins this leg at Barkingside,
Faversham to Dorking
Jan 30, 2014
Michael Portillo continues his journey from Norwich to Chichester beginning in Faversham in Kent, at one of the country's oldest surviving breweries, Shepherd Neame. Michael discov
Brighton to Chichester
Jan 31, 2014
On the final leg of his journey between the cathedral cities of Norwich and Chichester, Michael Portillo discovers the history behind the extraordinary Pavilion at Brighton and lea