Britain's Railway Empire in Colour: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of rail, Britain's Railway Empire in Colour reveals the extraordinary story of how Britain gave railways to the world – from the first tentative experiments with steam power, through the boom years at home, to the exporting of this new technology to every corner of the globe. Using leading experts and enthusiasts, including TikTok trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, plus extensive newly colourised archive, the truly revolutionary invention and impact of the locomotive is explored.

Series details

• Title: Britain's Railway Empire in Colour
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Travel, History
• Premiere date: 2025-09-13
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: Channel 4
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 87036
• TVDB ID: 468013

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2025-09-13; final listed air date 2025-09-20; episode order: 2.

Source and licence

Adapted from Britain's Railway Empire in Colour on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.