Home      Discussion      Topics      Dictionary      Almanac
Signup       Login
Great Railway Journeys

Great Railway Journeys

Overview
Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries
Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film or television program that describes travel in general or tourist attractions in a non-commercial way....

 produced by BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. The British Broadcasting Corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927.-History of BBC Television:...

. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. There were four series broadcast on BBC Two
BBC Two
...

 between 1980 and 1999, with the shorter series title being used for all but the first.

Episode summary for Series 1:


Episode summary for Series 2:


Episode summary for Series 3:


Episode summary for Series 4:


Although there have been no complete series of Great Railway Journeys released on DVD
DVD
DVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...

, Michael Palin's 1980 and 1994 programmes are available individually (BBCDVD1626) and as part of a box set of his collected travel documentaries, The Michael Palin Collection (BBCDVD2214).

Books have been published to accompany the first three series, with a chapter by each of the presenters on their particular journey:
  • Frayn, M.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Great Railway Journeys'
Start a new discussion about 'Great Railway Journeys'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum
 
Encyclopedia
Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries
Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film or television program that describes travel in general or tourist attractions in a non-commercial way....

 produced by BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. The British Broadcasting Corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927.-History of BBC Television:...

. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. There were four series broadcast on BBC Two
BBC Two
...

 between 1980 and 1999, with the shorter series title being used for all but the first.

Series 1: Great Railway Journeys of the World (1980)


Episode summary for Series 1:
Episode No. Episode Title UK Broadcast Date Presenter Details of Journey Countries Visited
#1.1 Introduction (extracts from forthcoming episodes in the series) 1980-10-23  - - -
#1.2 "Coast to Coast" 1980-10-30  Ludovic Kennedy
Ludovic Kennedy
Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy was a British journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping, the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley, and for his role in the abolition of the death penalty in the United...

 
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...

 
USA
#1.3 "The Long Straight" 1980-11-06  Michael Frayn
Michael Frayn
Michael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...

 
Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...

 to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....

 
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...

#1.4 "Deccan" 1980-11-13  Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson may refer to:*Brian Thompson , reporter and anchorman for WNBC-TV*Brian Thompson , American actor*Brian B. Thompson, British writer-See also:*Bryan Thompson, designer*Bryan Thompson *Brian Thomson, designer...

 
Bombay to Cochin  India
India
India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...

#1.5 "Confessions of a Trainspotter" 1980-11-27  Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

 
London
London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...

 to the Kyle of Lochalsh
Kyle of Lochalsh
Kyle of Lochalsh is a village on the northwest coast of Scotland, 63 miles west of Inverness. It is located at the entrance to Loch Alsh, opposite the village of Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye...

 
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

#1.6 "Zambesi Express" 1980-12-04  Michael Wood  Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, and the largest in land area, forming part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many...

 to Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are some of the largest in the world.-Introduction:...

 
South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...

, Botswana
Botswana
The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
#1.7 "Three Miles High" 1980-12-11  Miles Kington
Miles Kington
Miles Beresford Kington was a British journalist, musician and broadcaster.-Early life :...

 
Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, on a coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It forms a contiguous urban area with the seaport of Callao...

 to La Paz
La Paz
La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. Located at an elevation of , it is the world's highest capital city. La Paz sits in a bowl surrounded by the high altiplano. As it grows, La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying...

 
Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...

, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....

#1.8 "Changing Trains" 1980-12-18  Eric Robson
Eric Robson
Eric Robson, born in Scotland, has lived for most of his life in Cumbria, where he has a sheep farm.-Career:He started at Border Television in 1966. He is a television broadcaster, author and documentary film maker who is probably most famous for his role as Chairman of Gardeners' Question Time...

 
Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...

 
France
France
France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...

, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...


Series 2: Great Railway Journeys (1994)


Episode summary for Series 2:
Episode No. Episode Title UK Broadcast Date Presenter Countries Visited
#2.1 "From Hong Kong to Ulan Bator" 1994-01-13  Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson is a former barrister, now famous for being a successful comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...

 
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...

, China
China
China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....

, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...

#2.2 "Cape Town to the Lost City" 1994-01-20  Rian Malan
Rian Malan
Rian Malan is a South African author, journalist, documentarist and songwriter of Afrikaner descent. He first rose to prominence as the author of the autobiographical novel My Traitor's Heart, which, like the bulk of his work, deals with South African society in a historical and contemporary...

 
South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...

#2.3 "St Petersburg to Tashkent" 1994-01-27  Natalia Makarova
Natalia Makarova
Nataliya Romanovna Makarova is a Soviet-Russian-born American actress and former prima ballerina.-Biography:Makarova was born in Leningrad in former Soviet Russia. At the age of 12, she auditioned for the Leningrad Choreographic School , and was accepted although most students join the school at...

 
Russia
Russia
Russia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, formerly part of the Soviet Union...

#2.4 "Derry to Kerry" 1994-02-03  Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....

 
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...

#2.5 "Santos to Santa Cruz" 1994-02-10  Lisa St Aubin de Terán
Lisa St Aubin de Terán
Lisa St Aubin de Terán is an award-winning English novelist, writer of autobiographical fictions, and memoirist.Lisa St Aubin de Terán was born in 1953 and brought up in Clapham in South London. She attended the James Allen's Girls' School...

 
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...

, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....

#2.6 "Karachi to the Khyber" 1994-02-17  Mark Tully
Mark Tully
Sir Mark Tully, KBE was the Chief of Bureau, BBC, New Delhi for 22 years. Schooled in England, he stayed mostly in India covering all major incidents in South Asia during his tenure. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1985 and was awarded the Padma Shree in 1992, a rare...

 
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...


Series 3: Great Railway Journeys (1996)


Episode summary for Series 3:
Episode No. Episode Title UK Broadcast Date Presenter Countries Visited
#3.1 "Crewe to Crewe" 1996-09-04  Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a BAFTA award winning English comedienne, actor, singer and writer, educated at Bury Grammar Girls' School...

 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...

#3.2 "Aleppo to Aqaba" 1996-09-11  Alexei Sayle
Alexei Sayle
Alexei David Sayle is an English stand-up comedian, actor and author. Sayle was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted 18th on a list of the 100 Greatest Stand Ups in a poll for Channel 4....

 
Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....

, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...

#3.3 "Great Zimbabwe to Kilimatinde" 1996-09-18  Henry Louis Gates Jr  Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers...

, Zambia
Zambia
The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is...

, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...

#3.4 "The High Andes to Patagonia" 1996-09-25  Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...

 
Argentina
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...

#3.5 "Mombasa to the Mountains of the Moon" 1996-10-02  Benedict Allen
Benedict Allen
Benedict Colin Allen is a British explorer. He is best known for his survival modus operandi: tapping into local, indigenous knowledge above reliance on modern inventions. His approach is to present himself as ready to learn, like an infant; the communities that he visits take him under their...

 
Kenya
Kenya
The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...

, Uganda
Uganda
The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania...

#3.6 "London to Arcadia" 1996-10-09  Ben Okri
Ben Okri
Ben Okri OBE FRSL is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Having spent his early childhood in London, he and his family returned to Nigeria in 1968. He later came back to England, embarking on studies at the University of Essex...

 
England, France, Switzerland, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....

#3.7 "Halifax to Porteau Cove" 1996-10-16  Chris Bonington
Chris Bonington
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CBE is a British mountaineer.His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest and the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna....

 
Canada
Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...


Series 4: Great Railway Journeys (1999)


Episode summary for Series 4:
Episode No. Episode Title UK Broadcast Date Presenter Details of Journey Countries Visited
#4.1 "India East to West" 1999-01-05  Ian Hislop
Ian Hislop
Ian David Hislop is a British satirist, writer, broadcaster and editor of the magazine Private Eye. He has appeared on many radio and television programmes, most notably as a team captain on the BBC current affairs quiz Have I Got News for You.-Early life:Hislop was born in Mumbles, Swansea in...

 
Calcutta to Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan...

 
India
#4.2 "Granada to Salamanca" 1999-01-12  Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...

 
See episode title Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...

#4.3 "Tokyo to Kagoshima" 1999-01-19  Fergal Keane
Fergal Keane
Fergal Patrick Keane OBE is an Irish writer and broadcaster. For many years, Keane was the BBC's correspondent in Southern Africa. He is the nephew of Irish author John B. Keane....

 
See episode title Japan
Japan
is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

#4.4 "Los Mochis to Veracruz" 1999-01-26  Rick Stein
Rick Stein
Christopher Richard "Rick" Stein OBE is an English chef, restaurateur and television presenter. Rick Stein owns four restaurants in Padstow, Cornwall and has written 11 cookery books and presented a number of television programmes....

 
See episode title Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

#4.5 "Guantanamo to Pinar del Rio" 1999-02-02  Nick Hancock
Nick Hancock (actor)
Nick Hancock is an English actor, comedian and television presenter.Probably TV's most well known Stoke City supporter, he hosted the sports quiz They Think It's All Over for 10 years...

 
See episode title Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...

#4.6 "St Louis to Dogon Country" 1999-02-09  Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is best known for his role as Mr. Albert Johnson in The Color Purple and as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise....

 
See episode title Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south, and it also encircles The Gambia on its three sides,...

, Mali
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked nation in Western Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west...

#4.7 "Singapore to Bangkok" 1999-04-06  Stephen Tompkinson
Stephen Tompkinson
Stephen Tompkinson is an English actor, born 15 October 1965 in Stockton-on-Tees but grew up in St. Anne's, Lancashire, attending St. Bedes Catholic High School, Lytham Lancashire. He is best known for his roles in Wild at Heart and Ballykissangel...

 
See episode title Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...

, Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...

, Thailand
Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...


DVD and Books


Although there have been no complete series of Great Railway Journeys released on DVD
DVD
DVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...

, Michael Palin's 1980 and 1994 programmes are available individually (BBCDVD1626) and as part of a box set of his collected travel documentaries, The Michael Palin Collection (BBCDVD2214).

Books have been published to accompany the first three series, with a chapter by each of the presenters on their particular journey:
  • Frayn, M. et al. (1981), Great Railway Journeys of the World, BBC Books
    BBC Books
    BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...

    , hardcover, ISBN 0-563-17903-1
  • Anderson, C. et al. (1994), Great Railway Journeys, BBC Books, hardcover, ISBN 0-563-36944-2
  • Allen, B. et al. (1996), More Great Railway Journeys, BBC Books, hardcover, ISBN 0-563-38717-3


The BBC are considering releasing a new DVD, incorporating the complete four series, early in 2009, however they are seeing how many requests they get from viewers.

Great Little Railways


In 1983 the BBC made a further series on rail travel (entitled "Great Little Railways"), this time exclusively featuring narrow gauge railways.
Episode No. Episode Title UK Broadcast Date Presenter Details of Journey Countries Visited
1 "The Gold Rush Line" 1983-02-15  Simon Hoggart
Simon Hoggart
Simon David Hoggart is an English journalist and broadcaster. He writes on politics for The Guardian, and on wine for The Spectator. Until 2006 he presented The News Quiz on Radio 4...

 
White Pass and Yukon Railroad  Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, USA and Yukon
Yukon
Yukon , or The Yukon, is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River, Yukon meaning "Great River" in Gwich’in....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

2 "The Other Poland" 1983-02-22  Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed is an English actor, author and adventurer. He is known for his loud, booming voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals".-Early life:...

 
See episode title Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

3 "Slow train to Olympia" 1983-03-01  Michael Wood  Athens
Athens
Athens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....

 to Olympia 
Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....

4 "Dragons of Sugar Island" 1983-03-08  Colin Garratt See episode title Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....

5 "Line of Dreams" 1983-03-15  not known Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, it was the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...

 and Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital of Rajasthan state, India. Jaipur is the former capital of the princely state of Jaipur...

 
India
India
India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...

6 "Journey to the Land Behind the Mountains" 1983-03-22  Ray Gosling
Ray Gosling
Ray Gosling is an English journalist, author, broadcaster and gay rights activist.- Early Life :He was born in Chester in 1939, brought up in Northampton, and educated at Northampton Grammar School and the University of Leicester...

 
Douro Valley  Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...

7 "The Good and Quick" 1983-03-29  John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel
John Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, the son of MaryLillian Myfanwy and Norman Shrapnel. As a stage actor, he was a member of the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in...

 
Quayaquil to Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito, is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

 
Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America that...


External links