Rail TV Programmes - Portillo v Tarrant.

[Clip]

Has Portillo stopped making "Great British Railway Journeys"?

No I saw him filming somewhere a few weeks back .


Japan episode last night was very good. Nice to see inside their depot too - that's how it should be done.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

No. Series 7 is in production and will be broadcast in 2016.

Indeed. People on here spotted him filming in March.*









* The month, not the Cambridgeshire town.

 

[northwichcat]

Travel Channel also have rail programs if anyone's interested:

Great Railway Journeys of Europe with Julian Davison: http://www.travelchannel.co.uk/shows/great-railway-journeys-of-europe

Tough Trains with Zay Harding:
http://www.pilotguides.com/tv-shows/tough-trains/

I set an episode of the former to record (Oslo to Bergen) but it started early so I missed the opening 5 minutes but what I saw seem reasonable so I'll need to remember it's on again on 15th November.

I've seen one episode of the latter on the Bolivian railways which was an interesting program.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I hope you all noticed how badly the Shinkansen seats lined up with the (small) windows.
The mountain one could have been aboard a GB 153 (apart from the staff bowing to the passengers).
Most of the railways in Japan are in private hands, for those bothered about such things.

 

[47802]

I hope you all noticed how badly the Shinkansen seats lined up with the (small) windows.
The mountain one could have been aboard a GB 153 (apart from the staff bowing to the passengers).
Most of the railways in Japan are in private hands, for those bothered about such things.

Well apart it would likely be in better condition than a 153 especially a Northern one, probably quieter with less cramped seats, and you appeared to get food from a local farmers wife or was that just for Chris Tarrant? and it would be on time.

 

[Envoy]

I hope you all noticed how badly the Shinkansen seats lined up with the (small) windows.
.

Yes, I agree - dislike the small windows on the Shinkansen. I also don't like the newer versions with the 'duck bill' fronts. Apparently, it is the best shape for wind flow when shooting through tunnels. Hope our HS 2 line does not have this shape in order to go through all the tunnels demanded by the Greens!

I have just caught up with Portillo's Italy programme. Note that we basically see him getting on the train and then off again at the next place. Tarrant gives far more descriptive content about the actual trains/rail journey as well as other items about the places. I look forward to his next programme on Canada. (It will be the last of an excellent series).

 

[Minilad]

Caught up with Tarrant in Japan programme last night. All I can say is I want to go on the cat train!!

 

[jimm]

Yes, I agree - dislike the small windows on the Shinkansen. I also don't like the newer versions with the 'duck bill' fronts. Apparently, it is the best shape for wind flow when shooting through tunnels. Hope our HS 2 line does not have this shape in order to go through all the tunnels demanded by the Greens!

I think you'll find that the people demanding a tunnel all the way from London to Birmingham are far more likely to be Conservatives than Greens...

 

[sduob]

Tarrant's programme sold me on a trip to Japan.

Portillo is good, but he's not even sold me on a trip in my local area...

 

[Kite159]

Tarrant's programme makes me wanna go back to Japan, to head into the Northern reaches.

As for Shinjuki, yes it is a complete maze of a station

 

[Peter Sarf]

Tarrant's programme sold me on a trip to Japan.

Portillo is good, but he's not even sold me on a trip in my local area...

I know what you mean but then again neither of them could persuade me to go on a trip to my area :cry:.

I always think Portillo's programs go into more about the history of the areas served as he links back to Bradshaws (the bible of travel from roughly 100 years ago). Tarrant is different but I could be entertained and enlightened by BOTH of them doing the same lines.

I too am tempted by sampling Japan now - the program was good. Perhaps there is no need though as the Japanese's faster trains have examples in the UK. Gliding along the North Kent lines on a 395 and then accelerating onto HS2 at Ebbsfleet was very very satisfying. I used to regularly do Strood to Charing Cross on an EPB glum glum trundle.

 

[johnnychips]

Having just got back from Congo, I realise how good Tarrant's coverage of the Brazzaville-Pointe Noire line was. Lovely people, hard-working but finally totally inefficient.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Having just got back from Congo, I realise how good Tarrant's coverage of the Brazzaville-Pointe Noire line was. Lovely people, hard-working but finally totally inefficient.

Welcome to the third world. Hard work but relaxed - no complicated stress. But I need to come back for my Fix of "challenges" after a holiday (I think).

 

[Phil.]

People seem to be missing that the two people have two different programmes.
Portillo - places that can be reached by train and the effect that the introduction of the railway had on those places.
Tarrrant - the train services in, from and to different places.

 

[plcd1]

Just caught up with the Tarrant in Japan episode. Really nice to see Japan and its railways again. Only slight quibble is that a little bit more detail on some of the aspects / places he visited would have made it more informative. It could easily have been twice as long without being boring or tedious. Makes me wonder how much filming never made it into the final cut.

 

[midlandred]

I didn't like Tarrant before seeing this programme, I'm now warning to him!

Always preferred Sally James, personally

And Spit the Dog, of course

 

[Delta558]

Portillo is good, but he's not even sold me on a trip in my local area...

To be fair, he made Barry Island look reasonably attractive and that's hard work! The Bradshaws he reads from? Full of 'stickies' for pronunciation of place names, prompts for the bits where he refers to historical incidents etc. Found him and the crew very easy to work around when they were with me last year.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Tarrant is awful, it feels very low rent.

 

[Minilad]

Always preferred Sally James, personally

And Spit the Dog, of course

Now if Sally James made a railway programme I would definitely watch

 

[Mikey C]

Yes, I agree - dislike the small windows on the Shinkansen. I also don't like the newer versions with the 'duck bill' fronts. Apparently, it is the best shape for wind flow when shooting through tunnels. Hope our HS 2 line does not have this shape in order to go through all the tunnels demanded by the Greens!

I have just caught up with Portillo's Italy programme. Note that we basically see him getting on the train and then off again at the next place. Tarrant gives far more descriptive content about the actual trains/rail journey as well as other items about the places. I look forward to his next programme on Canada. (It will be the last of an excellent series).

It seems the latest versions have abandoned the duck bill front, I imagine there was too much moaning from the press and public about how stupid they looked