Great Asian Railway Journeys
Great Asian Railway Journeys is a 20-part BBC travel and history documentary series produced by Boundless[1] and presented by Michael Portillo, a former Conservative MP and Minister of State for Transport.[2] Following the format of the highly successful Great British Railway Journeys and related series with Portillo as presenter, each episode features a railway journey in south-east Asia using Bradshaw's Through Routes to the Chief Cities, and Bathing, and Health Resorts of the World (1913)[lower-alpha 1] as a historical reference, in order to consider how the places visited have changed over the preceding century.
| Great Asian Railway Journeys | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Travel documentary |
| Directed by | Dave Minchin |
| Presented by | Michael Portillo |
| Composers | Jon Wygens, Joe Donohoe |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 20 (short versions) 10 (long versions) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | John Comerford |
| Production locations | Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore |
| Editor | Alison Kreps |
| Running time | 30 minutes (short versions) 60 minutes (long versions) |
| Production company | Boundless[1] |
| Distributor | Fremantle |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Original release | 27 January 2020 (short versions) 4 April 2020 (long versions) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Website | |
During the course of the series, Portillo travels a total distance of 2,500 miles and passes through six countries,[1] beginning with the Chinese territory of Hong Kong then moving on to Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia before reaching his final destination of Singapore.[3] One of the main themes he explores is colonial history, examining the legacy of the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese Empires, and how the countries involved gained their independence.[1][4] Filming for the series was carried out in two stages and took 7–8 weeks to complete.[4]
Broadcast
The programme was first broadcast as 20 30-minute episodes on consecutive weekday evenings on BBC Two, beginning on 27 January 2020.[3][5] It was re-broadcast weekly as ten 60-minute episodes starting 4 April 2020.[6][7]
Episodes
| No. | Episode | First broadcast | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short versions | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "Kowloon to Wan Chai" | 27 January 2020 | ||||||||||
| 2 | "Hong Kong University to Lantau Island" | 28 January 2020 | ||||||||||
| 3 | "Chiang Mai to Lampang" | 29 January 2020 | ||||||||||
| 4 | "Ayutthaya to River Kwai" | 30 January 2020 | ||||||||||
| 5 | "Bangkok" | 31 January 2020 | ||||||||||
| 6 | "Bangkok to Hua Hin" | 3 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 7 | "Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet" | 4 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 8 | "Da Nang to Hoi An" | 5 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 9 | "Huế to Ninh Bình" | 6 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 10 | "Hanoi to Ha Long Bay" | 7 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 11 | "Jakarta to Bogor" | 10 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 12 | "Jakarta to Borobudur/Kutoarjo" | 11 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 13 | "Yogyakarta to Ambarawa" | 12 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 14 | "Ambarawa to Surabaya" | 13 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 15 | "Penang to Kuala Kangsar" | 14 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 16 | "Kuala Kangsar to Cameron Highlands" | 17 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 17 | "Kuala Lumpur to Melaka" | 18 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 18 | "Melaka to Johor Bahru" | 19 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 19 | "Raffles Place to Botanic Gardens" | 20 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| 20 | "Chinatown to Gardens by the Bay" | 21 February 2020 | ||||||||||
| Long versions | ||||||||||||
| 1 | "Hong Kong" | 4 April 2020 | ||||||||||
| 2 | "Chiang Mai to the River Kwai" | 11 April 2020 | ||||||||||
| 3 | "Bangkok to Hua Hin" | 18 April 2020 | ||||||||||
| 4 | "Ho Chi Minh to Hoi An" | 25 April 2020 | ||||||||||
| 5 | "Hue to Halong Bay" | 2 May 2020 | ||||||||||
| 6 | "Jakarta to Borobudur" | 9 May 2020 | ||||||||||
| 7 | "Yogyakarta to Surabaya" | 16 May 2020 | ||||||||||
| 8 | "Penang to Cameron Highlands" | 23 May 2020 | ||||||||||
| 9 | "Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru" | 30 May 2020 | ||||||||||
| 10 | "Singapore" | 6 June 2020 | ||||||||||
Notes
- Reynolds-Ball, Eustace Alfred (1913). Bradshaw's Through Routes to the Chief Cities, and Bathing, and Health Resorts of the World: A Handbook of India, Colonial, and Foreign Travel. London: Henry Blacklock. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
References
- Our Shows. Boundless. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- Gove, Michael (1995). Michael Portillo: The Future of the Right. London: 4th Estate. p. 160. ISBN 1857023358.
- "Great Asian Railway Journeys – Episodes". BBC. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- Dunn, Gemma (25 January 2020). "TV preview: Great Asian Railway Journeys". The Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- "Great Asian Railway Journeys – Kowloon to Wan Chai". BBC. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- "Great Asian Railway Journey". BBC.
- "Great Asian Railway Journeys". Radio Times.
