Station to Station: James Attlee in conversation with Will Gompertz

James Attlee and Will Gompertz discuss the rich history of the Great Western Line, engineered in the 19th century by that titan of innovation and industry, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose presence permeates the journey still. But what else lies in between? London's western suburbs, the Thames Valley, acres of farmland punctuated by provincial towns; where is the interest in such a landscape? To his surprise, travel writer Attlee found it rich in unexpected encounters and the line awash with famous ghosts.

However, Station to Station is no nostalgic elegy for ‘heritage’ England or the age of steam and Attlee urges us to reconnect with the very act of travelling by train, to literally wonder where we are, reminding us that the blurred vistas we pass at speed contain a myriad of beguiling human stories.

As Britain embarks on the greatest period of rail construction since the Brunel era, trains are once more seen as the future, not the past. Will they deliver prosperity this time around?

Part voyage of exploration, part history, part meditation on the nature of travel, Attlee and Gompertz will take the audience on a journey into the psyche of a nation, along one of its most iconic lines.