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Michael Portillo filming Great Australian Railway Journeys

It had to happen. Local series will feature the Indian Pacific & The Ghan.

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Michael Portillo, host of Great British Railway Journeys, is currently in Australia filming Great Australian Railway Journeys, doubtless for SBS..

3AW listeners spotted him at numerous Victorian locations, including aboard Puffing Billy at Queen Victoria Market and shearing a sheep in Birregurra.

“Yes I am indeed, I am filming Great Australian Railway Journeys, we’re basically going to cover all the coastal cities, of course the Indian Pacific and we’ll be on The Ghan as well,” he told 3AW.

“All those spottings are absolutely true, I was indeed on Puffing Billy, what a lovely train that is,” he said.

The idea of a local series has been hinted at recently, given the show’s continued success for SBS.

Last November SBS Director of Television and Online Content Marshall Heald told TV Tonight, “If there was an opportunity to do it as a co-production then that would be a happy middle-ground. You need to get the stars to align with a few broadcasters.

“Watch this space….”

10 Responses

  1. The Savannahlander travels over 400ks west of Cairns to Forsayth. Seeing as Michael was in Cairns, I hope he devoted four days to travel on one of the best rail journeys in Australia. It’s a very interesting and relaxing journey. I’ve been on it twice. The first time I took the side tours to Chillagoe and the Cobbold Gorge and the Undara lava Tubes. The next was the trip where I elected to stay with the train each night. Michael would like the first one as he likes to show things that make his show more interesting. He visited the first solar powered train in the world which runs at Byron Bay. I’m sure this will be included in his show.

  2. I decided to go for a walk on the Northern end of the Cairns Esplanade beach this morning and what a wonderfull surprise it was to bump into Michael Portillo and his tv crew filming an episode of his renown show Great British Railway Journeys, this time it will be a six part series on the Great Australian Railway Journeys he informed me, after this lovely man greeted me with a big smile, extended his hand to greet me, dressed in his very own colorful style as usual. I love his work and all the info he shares from his great Bradshaw travel guide book. Great Friday, thanks Michael Portillo

  3. So wonderful that our multicultural broadcaster is playing such a supportive role in the career of a right-wing, anti-immigrant Tory. In 2015, Portillo recommended that refugees should be returned, “to where they came from” and “dumped on a Libyan beach”. SBS, no longer a multicultural broadcaster, just a train station.

  4. I am a female…and Love anything trains……and Michael is an added bonus…also love his colorful outfits….Many memories of train travel with my Godmother …to Qld…through floods…stopping opposite a train full of sheep…

  5. It’s more likely he is filming it for the BBC. The BBC have just finished airing another new series of Great American Railway Journeys (straight after a new series of Great British Railway Journeys).

    No doubt, SBS will end up with the Australian rights.

  7. Hi Michael, I love all your programs on travelling by train. I wish you would pay more attention to locos and especially the steamers.

    If you are in Melbourne on the 11th and 12 March then these guys steamrail.com.au/ are having their biennial open day at the Newport Workshops where for nearly 100 years they churned out all the broad gauge locos and carriages. Some of the locos in steam and carriages that are over 100 years old, The locos on display will be in steam and running up and down a test track.
    Plus if you want, just up the road there is the Newport rail museum displaying some of our railway history with many locos being the only ones of their type remaining and also Heavy Harry who is the largest loco that came out of the workshops and also the largest non articulated loco in the southern hemisphere.
    If you are visiting Southern Cross station and you want to…

  8. Given Michael’s penchant for steam trains I hope that the production team have included a trip to the Thirlmere Festival of Steam or the round trip Sydney to Wollongong via steam train and ferry. Getting Michael out of his colourful suits and into Aussie attire will be a challenge.

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