Great British Railway Journeys - Series 1 BBC [DVD] [2010]

This is a review of the first series which features the following four journeys: 1. Liverpool to Scarborough; 2. Preston to Kirkcaldy; 3. Swindon to Penzance; and 4. Buxton to London.We’ve seen Griff Rhys Jones travelling along British rivers and Richard Wilson driving along Britain’s roads, but Michael Portillo’s train journeys seem to have gone on and on. To date there have been five series of Michael Portillo’s ‘Great British Railway Journeys’ and they seem at present to be endlessly repeated on certain channels. He’s even progressed onto the continent’s railway networks. So the concept of these shows seem to have struck some chord in the Great British Public. I do not know why. It cannot be his garish apparel, as here in the first series he dresses rather soberly, although the pink shirt comes out at Gretna Green.These are not really railway programmes; rather, Portillo clasps his copy of the Victorian Bradshaw’s gazetteer and timetables in hand and stops off along the way to marvel at some Victorian and/or modern claim to fame whilst being profuse in praise and “absolutelys”. My major complaint about this first series is that he does not stick strictly to Bradshaw and his times, although this is rectified in subsequent series. So in this first set we have instead such items as lessons in speaking Scouse, and the making of modern Eccles cakes.It’s all worthy and interesting in themselves, but Portillo is often too embarrassing with his faux bonhomie, his gushing with superlatives, and with the odd moment of dismissiveness. Portillo is occasionally engaging with the common touch, but one senses he has to try hard to be matey; and his ostensible ignorance and naivety does make me wonder how he got into politics.But then we should never trust a politician, former or otherwise, for he manipulates his speech. For instance, what he actually reads from Bradshaws about the town of Par is actually the entry for St Austell, the next stop! And Portillo is choosy to about what Bradshaws does say. It is true, for example, that Bradshaw relates that Mevagissey is “an important fishing town in the pilchard season”, but Portillo does not add what Bradshaw says next: “but so filthy, that it is a very hot-bed of disease when cholera is abroad.” Surely this would have been of interest to the viewer, but would not fit in with the positivity about Britain that the series seems to promote. This continual glowing praise eventually grates.In my opinion, we could do with more about the trains and less with the larking about, but perhaps that is what has endeared him finally to the Great British Public. When we do focus on the railways, such as the Rainhill Trials, little time is given over to exploring the topic before we have to move on to something more inane. More pertinently, there is nothing on why the railways he travels took the routes that they did through the landscape.Surprisingly, give the hours and hours of aerial shots that must have been taken, there are no added extras.

Living in India as I do, it's difficult to fully grasp the niceties of British travel and its way of life but anyone with some intelligence can definitely enjoy good scenery and filming, especially if one is engaged in amateur film-making himself!Although I have never travelled on the routes that Michael Portillo does, the sheer beauty of the countryside, the wonderful photography and last but not least, the trains in which he travels, leaves one absolutely mesmerized. Watching this series on a SONY 46 inch LED, every little detail is greatly magnified and the beauty of the English countryside can be better enjoyed.The wonderfully clean trains (are they always so clean or only on these remote routes are they so clean???) the seamless narration and editing makes the slick presentation even more enjoyable. As Michael travels the length and breath of the UK, he ensures that each episode revolve around trains and the Bradshaw's guide, which he uses as reference. However, it is interesting to note how hotel reservations are done in advance, how the hotel managers are there to greet him (a case in point Balmoral Hotel in Scotland)and 'doors' conveniently open. I understand that a lot of homework has gone into the making of this series and I would recommend it to any train buff or anyone who wishes to savour the beauty of the English countryside without having to leave his arm chair. Just pop in the DVD into your DVD/Blu-ray player and your journey is about to begin.My only wish is that this series should have been released on Blu ray. Maybe one day it might actually happen. Let me assure the people at Amazon that should that happen, they have an eager customer waiting to pick up the Blu-ray of this fantastic series.Go ahead and buy it, people!!

This series has changed my opinion of Michael Portillo. He was rubbish as a Tory politician but has excelled as a presenter in this series. We have really enjoyed the series, which is presented in a very unstated manner and we think Michael has approached people in a very pleasant and friendly manner. OK there may still be a touch of politician meet and greet here and there, but nothing offensive (No babies were kissed in this series). The number of times he holds his hand up to his own political shortcomings in the later series shows that his presentation is probably quite genuine and very tongue in cheek. There are lots of interesting details revealed, we have learned quite a bit about our local history we did not know existed. No, give the guy the benefit of the doubt and enjoy the series for the great photography and sunny weather we do not seem to get very often. Perhaps Bradshaw was mentioned rather often at times, but you do tend to get wrapped up in the story and not notice the references over much. One reviewer complained about the "toffy" voice, though just about everything else as well, but Michael does speak in a very clear and precise manner, certainly not over the top posh. As a broad speaking northerner I found nothing offensive in his southern dialect, pretty middle of the road really. We have watched all of the third series on TV, we missed the first two hence buying the DVD, roll on the fourth, if there are any more railway lines to travel on.