Television series
- Timothy West
- Prunella Scales
- Gyles Brandreth
- Sheila Hancock
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
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Original language | English |
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No. of series | 10 |
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No. of episodes | 35 |
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Production |
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Running time | 48 minutes |
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Original release |
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Network | Channel 4 |
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Release | 10 March 2014 (2014-03-10) – 22 March 2021 (2021-03-22) |
Great Canal Journeys is a British television series in which a pair of presenters take canal barge and narrowboat trips in the United Kingdom, Europe,[1][2] India and Egypt. The series was originally aired on More4 before transferring to Channel 4 with Series 2.
The original presenters were husband and wife Timothy West and Prunella Scales. Both are keen narrowboaters and were involved in campaigning to revive the Kennet & Avon Canal.[3] West and Scales both talk frankly about Scales' dementia during the series, which was praised by Alzheimer's Research UK.[4]
In 2020, West and Scales were replaced by TV personality Gyles Brandreth and actor Sheila Hancock for series 11.[5] In the first episode Timothy West gave the two novice canal boaters a crash course in narrowboating.[6]
Episodes
Series 1
Episode Name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure*[7] |
Kennet & Avon Canal | 10 March 2014 | More4 | The series started with Tim and Pru celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary by travelling 21 miles along the Kennet & Avon canal from Bath to Devizes.[3] | 0.83m |
The Rochdale | 17 March 2014 | More4 | Tim and Pru start at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, travelling through Mytholmroyd to reach the summit of the canal 600 ft up the Pennines[8] | – |
The Llangollen Canal | 24 March 2014 | More4 | Tim and Pru visit Llangollen where they spent their honeymoon. They travel through the Vale of Llangollen, the Montgomery Canal before visiting the Horseshoe Falls by horse drawn barge.[9] | 0.83m |
Canal du Nivernais, France | 31 March 2014 | More4 | Tim and Pru visit the Burgundy region of France. They travel along the Canal du Nivernais taking part in the grape harvest in Chablis before ending the trip in Auxerre.[10] | – |
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
Series 5
Series 6
Series 7
Series 8
Series 9
- If viewing figure is blank then the programme was not in the weekly top 10 on BARB.
Series 10
The series has been subtitled Asian Odyssey and is billed as Prunella Scales and Timothy West's last canal journey.[22]
Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure*[21] |
Vietnam | 9 June 2019 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru start their trip in Halong Bay, before travelling along the Red River to visit both Hanoi and Hoa Lu. They also visit the ancient port town of Hoi An and take part in its famous lantern festival.[23] | 1.63m |
Cambodia | 16 June 2019 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru start their trip in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, exploring its local customs before crossing into Cambodia. There they visit the capital city Phenom Penh before travelling onto the ancient abandoned city of Angkor Wat, where they discover how the city and the surviving temple were built with the aid of canals.[24] | 1.53m |
Series 11
Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure*[21] |
The Thames | 8 November 2020 | Channel 4 | Gyles and Sheila are introduced to canal boating by Timothy West along the upper reaches of the Thames.[5] | 1.76m |
The Lea Navigation | 15 November 2020 | Channel 4 | Gyles and Sheila travel the Lea Navigation, visiting the former Royal Gunpowder Mills and tackling their first manual locks before travelling up the Thames.[25] | 1.69m |
Series 12
Episode name | Original date aired | Station Aired | Episode information | Viewing figure |
Staffordshire's Waterways (Part 1) | 15 March 2021[26] | Channel 4 | Sheila and Gyles tour Staffordshire's waterways – the Caldon and the Trent and Mersey Canals on a tour of the Potteries and Stoke-on-Trent. | |
Staffordshire's Waterways (Part 2) | 22 March 2021 | Channel 4 | Sheila and Gyles tour Staffordshire's waterways – the Caldon and the Trent and Mersey Canals on a tour of the Potteries and Stoke-on-Trent. | |
Special
Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure |
Oxford Canal | 20 October 2019 | Channel 4 | This one-off special sees a return to the Oxford Canal where it all started, to relive past memories. | 0.83m |
DVDs
With the exception of the London Ring episode in series 2, all of first eight series have been issued on DVD; the series numbering, however, is different.
- Series 3 and 4 are combined and called series 3
- Series 5 and 6 are combined and called series 4
- Series 7 and 8 are combined and called series 5
References
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys – All 4".
- ^ Kitchener, Shaun (21 March 2016). "Timothy West and Prunella Scales dubbed 'inspirational' as Great Canal Journeys returns".
- ^ a b "Great Canal Journeys Series 1 Episode 1 – Radio Times". Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Timothy West reveals Prunella Scales' "painful" battle with dementia – Radio Times Webb.C p.4 March 2014". Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ a b David Brown. "Great Canal Journeys – Series 11 – Episode 1". The Radio Times. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ Michelle Marshall (8 November 2020). "Gyles Brandreth details 'frightening' boat problems he suffered on Great Canal Journeys". The Express. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "BARB Top 30". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 1 Episode 2 – Radio Times". Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 1 Episode 3 – Radio Times". Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 1 Episode 4 – Radio Times". Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 2 Episode 1 – Radio Times". Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 2 Episode 2 – Radio Times". Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 2 Episode 3 – Radio Times". Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 2 Episode 4 – Radio Times". Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 3 – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Season 4 – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Season 5 – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Season 4 – Radio Times". Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Episode 1 Series 7- Iris Holidays". Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Season 7". Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "BARB Four-screen dashboard". Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Series 10 Episode 1 – Radio Times". Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Episode 1 Series 10 – Radio Times". Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys Episode 2 Series 10 – Radio Times". Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Jane Rackman. "Great canal Journeys – Series 11 Episode 2". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Great Canal Journeys - All 4".
External links
- Great Canal Journeys at IMDb
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