Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails

Synopsis

Ian Hislop brings his customary humour, analysis and wit to the notorious Beeching Report of 1963, which led to the closure of a third of the nation's railway lines and stations and forced tens of thousands of people into the car and onto the road.

Was author Dr Richard Beeching little more than Genghis Khan with a slide rule, ruthlessly hacking away at Britain's rail network in a misguided quest for profitability, or was he the fall guy for short-sighted government policies that favoured the car over the train?

Ian also investigates the fallout of Beeching's plan, discovering what was lost to the British landscape, communities and ways of life when the railway map shrank, and recalls the halcyon days of train travel, celebrated by John Betjeman.

Ian travels from Cornwall to the Scottish borders, meeting those responsible and those affected and questioning whether such brutal measures could be justified. Knowing what we know now, with trains far more energy efficient and environmentally sound than cars, perhaps Beeching's plan was the biggest folly of the 1960s?

Credits

Presenter

Ian Hislop

Producer

Deborah Lee

Broadcasts

1. Thu 2 Oct 2008
   21:00
   BBC Four
2. Fri 3 Oct 2008
   00:25
   BBC Four
3. Fri 3 Oct 2008
   02:55
   BBC Four
4. Sun 5 Oct 2008
   20:00
   BBC Four
5. Mon 6 Oct 2008
   01:30
   BBC Four
6. Sat 11 Oct 2008
   21:00
   BBC Four
7. Sun 12 Oct 2008
   03:40
   BBC Four
8. Thu 20 Nov 2008
   20:00
   BBC Two (except Scotland, Wales)
9. Tue 23 Dec 2008
   21:00
   BBC Four
10. Wed 24 Dec 2008
    02:10
    BBC Four
11. Fri 26 Dec 2008
    10:40
    BBC Two (Wales, Wales (Analogue) only)
12. Fri 26 Dec 2008
    10:50
    BBC Two (except Wales, Wales (Analogue))