Author, actor and comedy icon, Alexei Sayle continues his travels across the country by rail.

Alexei’s mission is to break the golden rule of travelling by train and actually talk to his fellow passengers in a quest for conversations that reveal their lives, hopes, dreams and destinations. There’s humour, sadness and surprise as people talk about what is going on in their lives and, as Alexei passes through familiar towns and cities, he also tells stories and memories from his career and childhood.

Alexei has a lifelong "ticket to ride" in his DNA. His father was a railway guard and the Sayle family benefitted from free travel in the UK and across Europe. As a boy, Alexei and his family roamed far and wide from the family home in Anfield, Liverpool. At a time when most people thought an exciting trip by train was to Brighton or Blackpool, Alexei travelled thousands of miles to mysterious towns with unpronounceable names in far flung corners of the continent.

In each programme in the series, Alexei embarks on a rail journey, taking a chance on who he might meet and inviting them to have a conversation with him. In this episode, he travels from Manchester to Bournemouth and meets Moira who, as a dedicated Manchester City fan, has sky blue hair, sky blue clothes and even a sky blue house. He also talks to Jean who has been to visit a lifelong friend who worked alongside her as a psychiatric nurse, Steven and Simon who are both accountants but spend their leisure time travelling the world together to go to top music gigs, and rail enthusiast and veteran record producer Pete Waterman on one of his thousands of trips on the west coast line.

Producers Peter Lowe and Nick Symons
A Ride production for Radio 4 Show less