The World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys

When a programme includes the line, “For train manager Mauricio, each day brings new challenges…” you tend to fear the worst – to expect one of those railway docs padded-out with non-events involving lost tickets or timetable delays. Not a problem here, though; this ride-along on El Chepe, the Mexican line that runs from Chihuahua to the Pacific, has enough ludicrous views and intriguing facts to fuel a programme twice the length.

Just the aerial photography of the Copper Canyon region – the largest system of gorges in the world, like a whole family of Grand Canyons – could fuel a whole slow-TV special. And the running culture of the region’s Tarahumara people looks very cool.

It doesn’t hurt that the commentary is delivered by Bill Nighy (“Time is a fickle mistress…” he tells us at one point), or that the landscape keeps throwing up wonders like the world’s longest zip-wire. One for the bucket list.