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.
Social & External
The people behind it
Michael Portillo
Self - Presenter
Scotland's rail network crosses a landscape voted the best in the world. This series follows the staff and enthusiasts safeguarding these iconic routes.
Documentary series revealing the inner workings of Britain's railways, introducing the track-workers, train guards, drivers, police officers and management teams determined to keep the country moving.
Railway adventures across Australia follows the exploits of Scott McGregor on his quest to find the famous, unusual and unique trains and stories at the end of the line.
Series telling the story of the architects, engineers and spin doctors who entered a frantic two year race to make the Royal Opening of St Pancras on time.
Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.
Covering thousands of miles, Sir Tony Robinson takes a whirlwind journey around the globe by train.
This series looks at the iconic trains that have done the most to change history. Each train is an engineering marvel, each one a leap forward in the history of trains and railways. But more than this, these are the trains that made the modern world. These are the trains that unify nations and open up continents, that miraculously shrink distance and create a global economy, changing how we trade, what we buy and make and sell. They change how we live and even how we think, speeding up our lives and expanding our horizons. These are the machines that made us modern. Each episode features one iconic train and describes its impact on railway history and on history in general, combining archive and expert testimony with actuality and hands-on engineering demonstrations.
The invention of trains transformed everything about how humans lived. From the movement of goods and population, the design of cities, to conquest and warfare, there are few aspects of civilization that were left untouched by these machines.
The most dangerous railway lines in the world are breathtakingly beautiful, fascinating and lead through extreme landscapes. They touch the sky and for some they go straight to hell afterwards, leading over extreme heights, across oceans or savannahs and braving hurricanes.
Michael Portillo is in Southeast Asia, armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Handbook. It will lead him on a spectacular 2,500-mile railway adventure across six countries. He explores towering megacities and magnificent mosques.
A 4-part documentary series capturing the compelling story of James J. Hill and the Great Northern Railway.
With the help of Victorian steam enthusiasts across the country, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands journey back in time to the era of steam which shaped modern Britain.
Series about striking railways in the world. Each episode travels along a number of special locations, where the train serves as a guide and there is also attention for the landscape and culture.
A major political, historical, human and economic fact of the 20th century, the Gulag, the extremely punitive Soviet concentration camp system, remains largely unknown.
Criss-cross Japan by rail. Enjoy an amazing diversity of nature and scenery across the four seasons, exploring both well-known and hidden Japan.
Filmed on location across the UK, the one-time owner of the Flying Scotsman presents a four-part series examining the history of Britain's railways
A enjoyable low budget variety program about female railroad enthusiasts ("tetsu ota"). The girls who just love trains, travel around the country by themselves. Real railroad trips where nothing may happen. Watch out for the unique ways that women who love trains can enjoy trains!
The railway age in the Austrian Empire began with the construction of the horse-drawn railway from Linz to Budweis. Plans soon followed to connect the imperial capital of Vienna with the iron and coal deposits in northern Moravia and with the port city of Trieste. In 1837 the Kaiser Ferdinands Nordbahn was opened, in 1857 the Semmeringbahn planned by Karl Ritter von Ghega, overcoming one of the most difficult obstacles on the way to the Adriatic. The crossing of the Alps by train, such as over the Arlberg or the Brenner, is still considered a unique engineering masterpiece. The expansion of the railway network brought epochal changes. Goods and people circulated on an unprecedented scale – life accelerated. It had succeeded in connecting the northern crown lands such as Silesia or Bohemia and Moravia with Carinthia, Tyrol or the coastal region.
Michael Portillo examines the role of the railways in World War I and travels through Britain and Europe uncovering stories from the Great War.
Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.
Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.
An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.
Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.
Explores WWII from Germany's invasion of Poland through the atomic age, examining pivotal battles, wartime leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt, and the human cost of total war.
What happened to Mica Miller? This documentary series retraces her promising life, toxic marriage and the mysterious circumstances of her death.
Award-winning actor and nervous explorer Eugene Levy steps out of his comfort zone for a whirlwind tour of the world's most beautiful and intriguing destinations.
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.
The epic motorcycle adventure continues in this third chapter of the Long Way series, as Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman journey to glorious landscapes across South and Central America—on the backs of prototype electric Harley-Davidsons.
A look at the life of Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, who opens her personal archives and reflects on a career in which she has sold 80 million records and reinvented herself, and by extension pop, several times. Home movies, personal photographs and new interviews reveal the picture, as Kylie addresses how she’s faced public scrutiny, personal loss and illness.
In this true-crime documentary, a cult expert and filmmaker infiltrate a polygamist sect to expose a self-proclaimed prophet and bring him to justice.
The history of the sport of baseball in America, told through archival photos, film footage, and the words of those who contributed to the game in each era. Writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans review key events and the significance of the game in America's history.
Learn how popular Disney attractions and destinations came to be, how they have changed over time, and how fans continue to obsess over them.
MegaStructures is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an educational look of varying depth into the construction, operation, and staffing of various structures or construction projects, but not ordinary construction products. Generally containing interviews with designers and project managers, it presents the problems of construction and the methodology or techniques used to overcome obstacles. In some cases this involved the development of new materials or products that are now in general use within the construction industry. MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world. Alternatively, a project may appear if it had an element of novelty or are a world first. This type of project is known as a Megaproject.
Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.
Sir Kenneth Clark guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.
Have you ever wondered how the products you use every day are made? How It's Made leads you through the process of how everyday products, such as apple juice, skateboards, engines, contact lenses, and many more objects are manufactured.
Travel around the world with author Dan Buettner to discover five unique communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives.
Steve Martin is one of the most beloved and enigmatic figures in entertainment. Dive into his extraordinary story from two distinct points of view—past and present—as Martin reflects on how his beginnings led to his unexpectedly fulfilling life today.