I've just watched this for the first time tonight, primarily because of you all suggesting that Mr Portillo visited my home town... and, if I'm honest, I was far from impressed, to the point that this will probably be my only viewing of the series. I note for instance that you all mention continuity errors; I see that the focus seems to shift constantly between 321s and 360s around Witham, and that there is no apparent consistency in his route; the route map suggests you head virtually due south to get from Sudbury to Witham, for instance, when in practice even Portillo knows that you have to travel via Marks Tey. And when he reached the not-so-sunny Southend, I couldn't help but wonder how old the film is; I noticed that Southend's recent Unviersity accommodation, or "
The Tetris Block" as locals know it, was seemingly missing. He also failed to mention that Southend has two separate lines, which is especially awkward given that the Shenfield to Southend route came towards the end of the Victorian era, when the LTS route had been ferrying tourists for 30 years.
Anyhow, simplistic criticism over, and now on to the serious stuff. It is all very well Portillo fronting a series about "Great Railway Journeys" - but how much of the series actually features on the railways and not on the random and often remote places he visits? I accept that people will generally be more interested in the towns and their histories but I cannot help but feel that he is trying too hard and as such is being very specific in each instance; Chelmsford is more than just a mill, for instance. Put simply, I know that I could do better with half of the funds he has - actually, change that to "an ALR and a lot of SD cards and batteries".
OK, unnecessary rant over. For the record, Southend Pier was de-electrified in the mid-1980s, I believe. And if you think they are sophisticated, you should try riding one - you quite literally sit on the bodywork! It's a much nicer walk than it is a train ride, and you wont hear me say that very often.
P.S.: As for continuity errors, one of you mentioned the impracticality of filimng the exact same train, which is fair enough. You'd think however that they could at least use the same class, and record a 360 when he is travelling on a 360?
In years gone by the modern sets used to be red; they were very easy to distinguish from the Esplanade to the east against the grey or blue backdrop [i.e. the sky]. The modern blue however isn't as easy, but you can still make them out from several miles away. Seeing the Pier Train in action is one of the things that makes the 9 bus route back home that much more attractive than most of the others in the town! (That, and the fact that Arriva have recently introduced some Optare Versas to the route.) As for being worse than a Pacer? I don't dislike Pacers these days 
Spookily my Sky+ had more taste and ended the recording just before they started dancing!
