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Trainspotting Live

Peter Snow

Hannah Fry

Dick Strawbridge

Tim Dunn

Will Daws

Chris Howard

Tony Grech-Smith

Ian McMillan

Plum Pictures Ltd

Trainspotting Live: Episode 1

Documentaries

Factual: History

Factual: Travel

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Episode 1

BBC Four - Trainspotting Live, Episode 1

Peter Snow challenges Ian McMillan to write a poem about the Flying Scotsman.

In Didcot, Peter Snow is joined by train lovers, collectors and enthusiasts across Britain. Peter challenges Ian McMillan to write a poem about the Flying Scotsman.

Broadcast live from Didcot Rail Centre, in the middle of the Great Western Railway, Peter Snow is joined by some of the most enthusiastic and passionate train lovers, collectors and enthusiasts from across the country. 

Peter meets poet and rail fan Ian McMillan, challenging him to write a new poem about the iconic Flying Scotsman to images filmed by members of the public as the train went on a recent journey. Dr Hannah Fry adds mathematical insight to these incredible machines by exploring how these massive engines stay on the rails and the effect that the rail network had on timekeeping across the whole of the country. 

Engineer Dick Strawbridge is in Doncaster on the trail of a workhorse of the network, the Class 66, and he also visits the National Railway Museum in York to explore how this most British of pastimes began. With spotters based across the length and breadth of the country, including resident spotter Tim Dunn in the Scottish Highlands tracking down the only steam engine working on the line during the live programme, Trainspotting Live provides a snapshot of the whole network during the hour, providing analysis and context, and revelling in this unique and wonderful world.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Excitement abounds as Peter Snow and friends revel in the pleasure of Trainspotting Live.

Broadcast live from Didcot, Peter Snow is joined by presenters stationed all over the country, waiting with trepidation to catch a variety of trains on camera.

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