Great Continental Railway Journeys

[sunny-dave]

Anyone else watching the Michael Portillo series?

Beautiful pictures and an erudite and personable presenter.

I have never really taken to him before, but now think he'd make an excellent travelling companion ... but perhaps I wouldn't give him my phone number when we got home ... :)

[shaneystar2]

I've watched all of them. Great British Railways and the latest one on the continent .
He's very charming and knowledgeable .He also has a good line in snazzy shirts and jackets . I've also bought facsimiles of the two Railway guides he uses for Mr S .who's a bit of a railway fan .They're really interesting .

[vulcan]

I actually avoided the Great Britain series the first time because he presented it. My love of railways compelled me to watch the repeat series and realised just how good Michael Portillo is, both as a presenter and a listener.He seems genuinely interested in all things and I now wouldn't miss his programmes.

[sunny-dave]

Where did you get the Bradshaw Facsimiles, Shaney?

[Robinia]

I've thoroughly enjoyed all the journeys Michael's done and he seems genuinely interested in the people he meets.
The books are on amazon dave, just search Bradshaws. I bought one as a gift on shaney's recommendation and they loved it.

[shaneystar2]

Sorry dave ,got sidetracked ..Robinia's given you the info .
I got this one
Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation
The other one was the 1863 facsimile ,but the one I got had a larger print than those they seem to have this year .

[marval]

Yes, I like them, they are very interesting.

[sunny-dave]

Thanks Shaney & Robinia - have ordered the Bradshaws as a treat for myself :)

[Mrsspagnoli57]

Big fan of these programmes and Michael Portillo as a presenter. He is well educated and intelligent which is a plus. Have Series I of the GB series on DVD. I remember he did a very good one off programme a couple of yeaqrs ago when he went back to Spain to trace his late fathers roots (not a Who Do You

[Mrsspagnoli57]

Silly me-pressed wrong button- The programme wasn't in the Who Do You Think You Are series but a one off and was very good. Like his style, especially the clashing coloured shirts and jackets.

[gollob]

Excellent programme with Michael portillo at the helm. I think a more interesting programme even is Chris Tarrant's Extreme Railways on tonight at 21.00 on Channel 5. This is an even better series on railways. Both great though

[ladybirder]

but perhaps I wouldn't give him my phone number when we got home

And what makes you think he'd want it Dave;-) ?

I'm a big fan of Portillo and the railway programmes, he is such a nice man and the scenery is beautiful and I echo what others have said about him.
Mrs spag I remember the programmes he did chasing his father's roots, excellent.
In his way, on a par with Michael Palin possibly?

[askyourgran]

The Continental railway journeys were very interesting, such lovely places to see that we probably won't have the chance to visit. The trains look very clean and fast. I like Michael Portillo as the presenter for this programme, a sort of louche old school glamour about him.