Great Continental Railway Journeys
| Great Continental Railway Journeys | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Travel documentary |
| Presented by | Michael Portillo |
| Composer(s) | Jon Wygens |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 17 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | John Comerford |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 57 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Boundless |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |
BBC Two BBC Two HD (2013- ) BBC HD (2012) |
| Picture format | 1080i |
| Original run | 8 November 2012 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Great British Railway Journeys Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo |
Great Continental Railway Journeys is a British documentary travel television series. It follows Michael Portillo around continental Europe, using George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.[1]
The first series of five episodes was broadcast on BBC Two in November 2012. The original five 57-minute episodes were repackaged into ten 30-minute episodes for repeat broadcast in March 2013.[2]
Production of a second series of 6 episodes included filming in Spain and Gibraltar during May and June 2013 following the Ronda–Algeciras railway line, built by British interests under the 'Gibraltar Railway Company' for the benefit of British Officers stationed in Gibraltar wanting to travel into Spain and inland. To avoid Spanish sensitivities the line was built concluding in Algeciras which was then a small town on the opposite side of the Bay of Gibraltar, rather than at the Gibraltar border. Despite having no direct connection to the European rail network, George Bradshaw did devote a chapter to Gibraltar in his 1913 guide.[3]
Episodes
Series 1
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "London to Monte Carlo" | 8 November 2012 |
| 2 | "Hungary to Austria" | 15 November 2012 |
| 3 | "Berlin to the Rhine" | 22 November 2012 |
| 4 | "Switzerland" | 29 November 2012 |
| 5 | "Amsterdam to Northern France" | 6 December 2012 |
Series 2
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Madrid to Gibraltar" | 27 October 2013 |
| 2 | "Turin to Venice" | 3 November 2013 |
| 3 | "Dresden to Kiel" | 10 November 2013 |
| 4 | "Copenhagen to Oslo" | 17 November 2013 |
| 5 | "Prague to Munich" | 24 November 2013 |
| 6 | "Bordeaux to Bilbao" | 1 December 2013 |
Series 3
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Tula to Saint Petersburg" | 5 November 2014 |
| 2 | "Rome to Taormina" | 12 November 2014 |
| 3 | "Warsaw to Krakow" | 19 November 2014 |
| 4 | "A Coruña to Lisbon" | 26 November 2014 |
| 5 | "Haifa to Negev" | 3 December 2014 |
| 6 | "Lyon to Marseille" | 10 December 2014 |
DVD releases
As of 2014, DVDs of the first two series of Great Continental Railway Journeys have been released by FremantleMedia under licence from Boundless and the BBC
| Series | UK release date | Special features |
|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 29 May 2013 | |
| Series 2 | 28 April 2014 | |
| Series 3 | 23 March 2015 | |
References
External links
- Great Continental Railway Journeys at BBC Programmes
- Great Continental Railway Journeys at the Internet Movie Database
- Bright, Spencer (9 November 2012). "As he clocks up his 100th Great Railway Journey, Michael Portillo says... it Beats facing Paxo!". Daily Mail. Retrieved 27 January 2013.