''Great Continental Railway Journeys'' is a British television documentary series presented by Michael Portillo. In the early series, Portillo explores the railway networks of

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, but in later series he also ventured further afield. He refers to a 1913 copy of '' Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide'', as he describes how the places he visits have changed since

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

times. The first series was originally broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

in 2012, and the seventh series was first aired in 2020. Series 8 was filmed in Spring and Summer 2022

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2012)

The first series was originally broadcast on BBC Two in 2012. Portillo made five separate journeys across France, Germany, the Low Countries, Switzerland, and the countries whose land made up the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Series 2 (2013)

Production of a second series included filming in

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and

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in May and June 2013, following the Ronda– Algeciras railway line, built in the 1890s by British interests under the

Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company The Algeciras Gibraltar Railway Company was formed by British businessmen to build the Algeciras-Bobadilla railway line between Algeciras and Bobadilla, Antequera, the first section of track was laid on 1 September 1888. The first train was purc ...

, for the benefit of British officers stationed in Gibraltar wanting to travel to Spain and the rest of Europe. To avoid offending Spanish sensitivities, the line was built concluding in Algeciras, a town in Spain on the opposite side of the Bay of Gibraltar, rather than at the Gibraltar border. Despite it having no direct connection to the European railway network, a chapter was devoted to Gibraltar in the 1913 guidebook.

Series 3 (2014)

The third series had six journeys, in one of which Portillo went further afield to travel on the railways in modern-day

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Series 4 (2015)

The fourth series aired in 2015. It took Portillo to Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, and Spain.

Series 5 (2016)

Series 6 (2018)

Series 7 (2020)

DVD releases

As of 2021, series 1-6 of ''Great Continental Railway Journeys'' have been released on DVD by FremantleMedia under licence from Boundless and the

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Books

''Great Continental Railway Journeys'', written by Michael Portillo, was published by Simon & Schuster UK in October 2015.

References

External links

* *
Article by Michael Portillo - 25 Oct 2013
at ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...