Great Indian Railway Journeys

BBC TWO, 8.00PM

In this new four-part excursion, Michael Portillo transplants every element of the previous train travel series he’s made in Britain, America and Europe – from the Bradshaw’s guide to his primary colour outfits and potted histories – to another of the world’s most expansive rail networks, in India. Which guarantees that if you loved those series, you’ll love this one just as much. So, with a copy of Bradshaw’s 1913 Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel in hand, he sets out to traverse the Punjab, from Amritsar, the spiritual home of the Sikh religion, to the hyper-modern Le Corbusier-designed state capital of Chandigarh, before embarking on one of the most spectacular train rides of them all – the high-climbing narrow gauge line from Kolka to Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas. GO