# Great Canal Journeys

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, 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 and Avon Canal. West and Scales both talk frankly about Scales' dementia during the series, which was praised by Alzheimer's Research UK.
In 2020, West and Scales were replaced by TV personality Gyles Brandreth and actor Sheila Hancock for series 11. In the first episode Timothy West gave the two novice canal boaters a crash course in narrowboating.

## Episodes
### Series 1

| Episode Name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure* |
| Kennet and 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. | 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 | – |
| 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. | 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. | – |
* No Viewing Figure means not within BARB Top 30.

### Series 2

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure |
| Oxford Canal | 15 March 2015 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru start in Oxford for a trip on the Oxford Canal which was the first trip they had on a canal 40 years previously. They meet Sonia Rolt, a canal campaigner and author Philip Pullman. They are joined on the journey through the Cherwell Valley by the first canal laureate Jo Bell and their son, actor Sam West. | 2.55m |
| London Ring | 22 March 2015 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru start in Brentford, travelling along both the Grand Union Canal and Regent's Canal to Limehouse. On the way they met up with Andrew Sachs and Ian McKellen and visit the grave of Harold Pinter at Kensal Green Cemetery. | 1.88m |
| Canal du Midi, France | 29 March 2015 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru travel along the Canal du Midi, which was built nearly 100 years before the British canals and is designated a World Heritage site. They visit the town of Béziers and travel in the Europe's first navigable canal – the Malpas Tunnel. They try lamb's brain fritters and drink 200-year-old whisky. They are joined on the journey by their son Joseph West and his family. | 1.65m |
| Forth & Clyde and Union Canals | 5 April 2015 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru travel along the two Scottish canals in a coast to coast trip from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Along the way they travel Scotland's highest aqueduct and go through its longest canal tunnel. They also visit 21st-century canal technology with the Falkirk Wheel. | 2.02m |

### Series 3

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Viewing figure |
| London's Lost Route to the Sea | 25 October 2015 | Channel 4 | 1.86m |
| Birmingham to Braunston | 1 November 2015 | Channel 4 | 1.93m |
| Shannon–Erne Waterway | 8 November 2015 | Channel 4 | 1.82m |

### Series 4

| Episode Name | Original date aired | Station aired | Viewing figure |
| The Göta Canal, Sweden | 20 March 2016 | Channel 4 | 2.22m |
| Stockholm and the Archipelago, Sweden | 27 March 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.5m |
| Stratford-upon-Avon | 3 April 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.44m |

### Series 5

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Viewing figure |
| Venice, Italy | 17 August 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.68m |
| Amsterdam, Netherlands | 24 August 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.38m |
| Leeds and Liverpool Canal | 31 August 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.37m |

### Series 6

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Viewing figure |
| Bristol and North Devon | 23 October 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.44m |
| The Caledonian | 6 November 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.75m |
| The Crinan Canal | 13 November 2016 | Channel 4 | 1.66m |

### Series 7

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure |
| Kerala, India | 16 June 2017 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru start their trip in Kochi, before travelling to the Kerala backwaters. They also visit the ancient fort in Tangasseri and visit Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple. | 1.66m |
| Brahmaputra, India | 23 June 2017 | Channel 4 | Tim and Pru explore the Brahmaputra River. They follow an old tea trading route, meet a community of monks and take a ride on an elephant. | 1.58m |

### Series 8

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Viewing figure |
| Norfolk Broads | 29 October 2017 | Channel 4 | 1.51m |
| Marne–Rhine Canal, France | 5 November 2017 | Channel 4 | 1.42m |
| Rio Douro, Portugal | 30 November 2017 | Channel 4 | 1.66m |
| Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal | 7 December 2017 | Channel 4 | 1.56m |

### Series 9

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Viewing figure* |
| River Nile, Egypt | 7 October 2018 | Channel 4 | 1.36m |
| Lake Maggiore, Naviglio Grande, Italy | 14 October 2018 | Channel 4 | 1.39m |
| Bridgewater Canal, Trent and Mersey Canal, Weaver Navigation, Shropshire Union Canal | 28 October 2018 | Channel 4 | 1.4m |
| Paraná Delta, Argentina | 4 November 2018 | Channel 4 | 1.53m |
| Lancaster Canal & Lake Windermere | 11 November 2018 | Channel 4 | 1.39m |
| Rideau Canal, Canada | 18 November 2018 | Channel 4 | |
* 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.
| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure* |
| 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. | 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. | 1.53m |

### 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 |

### Series 11

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station aired | Episode information | Viewing figure* |
| 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. | 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. | 1.69m |

### Series 12

| Episode name | Original date aired | Station Aired | Episode information | Viewing figure |
| Staffordshire's Waterways (Part 1) | 15 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. | |
| 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. | |

## Home media

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