Secrets of the London Underground - Episode Guide

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore the abandoned branch line between Holborn and Aldwych, closed in the 1990s. And at Holloway Road, they find out about the Tube's only spiral escalator!

Siddy takes Tim on a mystery tour of a secret station deep beneath Hampstead Heath.

Tim and Siddy explore the disused parts of Piccadilly Circus.

Tim and Siddy explore the hidden parts of Euston underground station - and there's a lot to see, including some features not found anywhere else on the London Underground.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway have a night-time adventure as they go on a late-night exploration of two of London's least known stations: St Mary's and the original Aldgate East, they're only a few hundred metres apart but trains haven't stopped at either since 1938.

Tim and Siddy are deep beneath Clapham Common; in fact, they're so deep, the Northern line is running above their heads. This is Clapham South deep level shelter, an enormous, purpose-built air raid shelter. During the Second World War, as rockets landed on the streets above, thousands of people could sleep down here in more than a mile of tunnels - all built by London Transport in the same way they dug tube tunnels.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore the disused Jubilee Line areas of Charing Cross station, now more famous as a film location. And Siddy walks the Kennington Loop while back at the depot in Acton, Tim looks at some original plans for other loops elsewhere on the network.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway discover the hidden world of the Waterloo & City, the only line entirely underground. And Siddy explores abandoned Mark Lane, by the Tower of London.

Also, at the Acton depot, they rifle through the London Transport Museum's collection of unscanned photos before Tim learns about the iconic Underground moquette.

King William Street was the original terminus of the first deep level electric Tube in the world and now this station is part of the Bank upgrade project. Siddy shows Tim its Second World War shelters, original Victorian tiles and steep running tunnels and where it goes under the Thames.

Siddy also visits Knightsbridge, where old lift shafts taken out of service in the 1930s are now being put back into use to make the station accessible for all.

Tim and Siddy walk the Piccadilly line at night to explore the hidden World War 2 remains of Brompton Road. Siddy reveals the unexpected wartime use for St Pauls.

Tim and Siddy explore the disused parts of London Bridge. Siddy visits Ongar in Essex, and nearby Blake Hall which, at the end, served less than 20 passengers a day.

Tim and Siddy explore Kings Cross St Pancras, including a secret siding and the disused Thameslink station. Siddy also discovers long lost Marlborough Road station.?

Tim and Siddy explore the brand new Elizabeth Line - and have access to 2 of its stations weeks before the line opens. Siddy also explores the disused parts of Angel.

Tim and Siddy visit Quainton Road in rural Buckinghamshire, 50 miles from central London - and once on the underground. Siddy also explores Kingsway tramway tunnel.

Tim and Siddy visit the cathedral-like Greenwich Power Station, which stands ready to power the tube at short notice. Siddy visits hidden parts of Notting Hill Gate.

Tim and Siddy explore the tube station with the most platforms, Baker Street. Siddy visits the disused Edgware Road Signal Cabin with its very last operator.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore the labyrinthine Camden Town station, and the forgotten wartime shelter built beneath. Plus, Siddy visits a station which hides a lost river.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore the disused areas of South Kensington station, with platforms reclaimed by nature and fascinating wartime uses. Siddy also heads to Marylebone, London's youngest terminus station, to reveal the original features on the platforms and the incredible tube infrastructure hidden within the walls of a hotel.

Tim and Siddy are heading to a stunning station you won't find on modern-day tube maps - Dover Street, now known as Green Park. During the Second World War the abandoned passageways and lift shafts of the original station had an incredible second life as the base for the London Passenger Transport Board whose essential work kept London's transport moving against all odds. Next, Siddy delves into the atmospheric, abandoned corridors and platforms of Down Street, closed to the public in 1932, and the scene of some of the most pivotal decisions of World War II.

Tim and Siddy embark on a night-time track walk to the abandoned station of British Museum. The pair discover enormous 1930s hand-painted adverts and evocative white tiling. During the second world war it served as a shelter and spine-tingling clues to the children who stayed there during The Blitz can still be seen.

Siddy visits the elegant, white-stuccoed houses of Leinster Gardens, which are hiding a stunning secret of the London Underground behind their walls. These aren't all real houses at all, they are in fact, an incredible quirk of the Underground's history of steam.

Tube fans would be right in thinking there are 272 Underground stations on the network, but Siddy Holloway has such unique access, today she is taking Tim Dunn to the 273rd. This station only has a west bound platform, no customers and no members of the public will ever board its trains. Situated on the 3rd floor of an unassuming tower block in west London, this is TFL's state of the art training facility. The pair will try out the immersive tube classroom, walk beside wooden tracks and use model trains to visualise signalling. Finally, the duo test their mettle as drivers in a state of the art simulator... it might be a while until they're allowed at the helm of the real thing.

Siddy also heads to one of the oldest and friendliest deep level stations at Oval. She reveals unusual brick lift shafts, surprising ventilation and the international phenomena that started life on a simple station white board.
At the depot Tim explores the wild world of experimental and innovative trains and has a mind-blowing experience when he samples hot sauce, homegrown on a tube station platform.

Tim and Siddy are exploring the station in the beating heart of London's theatreland - Leicester Square. It's a place adored by tourists and culture lovers but very few know of the secrets hidden below ground. Siddy reveals the extraordinary previous life of the station office - as a display cabinet for V&A antiquities. The pair then ride what was once the world's longest escalator at 54m, explore layers of the stations design history hidden in unassuming cupboards and see the unique wartime communication infrastructure still stored in abandoned lift shafts. Tim learns more about the work to preserve the networks heritage from TFL's Ann Gavaghan.

Siddy visits the tourist hot spot of Hyde Park Corner, where the stunning Oxblood Leslie Green station building has had a renaissance as a high-end hotel. She delves into its abandoned cross passages, adorned by stunning original tiles and reveals enormous fans and gloriously aging stair shafts.

Back at the Depot Tim admires some of the museum's iconic poster collection, enticing people to visit the theatre and crucially travel by tube during off-peak hours. Finally, Tim goes back in time with Assistant Director Chris Nix to explore innovations in station clocks.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway pack their bags to go on a trip around the sprawling Heathrow Airport underground stations - the first ever underground rail link between an airport and a city. They start their trip at the original Heathrow Central, now Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, stopping off at Hatton Cross, with its eye-popping 70's mosaic tiling and speedbird logos, before they finally reach the futuristic 80's design of Terminal 4. Finally, they embark on a special trip along the Heathrow loop, the tube tunnel link which passes underneath the runway. Climbing through the driver's cab, they alight at a secret platform to explore a ventilation shaft and emerge above ground to the sound of aircraft.

Next, Siddy heads to north west London to delve into Swiss Cottage station, one of the first stations to be built on the expanding Metropolitan Railway. With those original platforms closed to the public 80 years ago, she explores what remains of that forgotten world.

At the museum Tim has a ride on an Elizabeth Line train simulator and at the depot he meets contemporary artist Mark Wallinger who created the ubiquitous labyrinths which adorn the walls at 270 Underground stations.

Shepherd's Bush is a fabulous example of how the network has changed and adapted over time and Siddy Holloway knows where all the best bits are, ready to show Tim Dunn. Just off the platforms the pair discover Victorian glass tiles, long abandoned passenger tunnels from the original Central London Line, epic vents with an eye-level view of people on the platforms and a lift shaft with an escalator through the middle. They visit a gigantic cavern hidden within the body of the station and the perfect example of how nature sometimes beats the best laid engineering plans.

Siddy delves into Elephant and Castle, a small station that packs a big punch. She discovers what it takes to be at the helm of a train from driver Jennifer, reveals the only original 1890 tiles still visible to the public and the spooky discoveries hidden behind a platform door.

At the depot Tim hears about one of the most captivating parts of TFL - the Art on the Underground programme and has the time of his life with Assistant Director Chris Nix as they rev up the special road and rail vehicle currently being restored by the museum.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore the sprawling TFL maintenance facility - Acton Works. Staying in Acton, Siddy reveals an oddity of Underground history.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway have access to the secret spaces of Archway, from cavernous lift shafts to sealed off tunnels. Siddy also visits the tube's own Emergency Service.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore Earl's Court station – a busy interchange on the Piccadilly and District lines, it's a station that has always embraced innovation. It was the very first station to install a passenger escalator and the first to install automatic lifts. Tim discovers how even today, the station is embracing the modern, with a re-design of the walkways created to fit in with its famous glass roof.

Siddy visits Alperton, a classic example of the famous London Underground architect, Charles Holden, and the design was regarded as futuristic when it was built in the 1930s. And behind a locked door, Siddy reveals a hidden treasure – a legendary escalator originally built for and relocated from the Festival of Britain.

At the London Transport Museum depot, a dedicated volunteer shows Tim the restored inner workings of a 1930s platform indicator, which used a telegraph system to show passengers the destination of their next train.

Tim and Siddy go under the platforms of Paddington station. It has five different tube lines running through it, with its oldest and newest lines opening 150 years apart.

Tim dusts off the old Mail Rail line which used to transport post under London to sorting offices across the capital, and Siddy discovers some former police cells underneath the platforms, and unearths what remains of the luggage carousels from when passengers on the Heathrow Express were allowed to check-in their luggage in the main station.

At Tottenham Court Road, Siddy reveals the huge changes to the station to accommodate the Elizabeth Line, and tells the story of how the station's iconic mosaic artwork was preserved during the works and takes us behind a locked door to uncover a floodgate installed as part of Britain's Cold War defences.

At the London Transport Museum depot, Tim meets a young tube driver, who's built up a large following on social media for her posts showing behind the scenes of her job.

Tim and Siddy explore the forgotten tunnels underneath one of Britain's busiest stations – Waterloo.

Tim gets a tour of a hidden world underneath the main concourse, which includes a former typing pool, a rifle range and a full-size snooker table gathering dust. Siddy discovers a floodgate which would have sealed the tunnel entrance during German bombing raids over London during the Second World War.

Siddy visits Marble Arch on the Central Line, and meets the artist who created an iconic series of enamel artwork on the platforms in the 1980s. Each depicts the Marble Arch in a different design, and they're still in pristine condition after 40 years. Siddy hears how the designs came about, and how the artist had to learn the intricate craft of working with enamel to realise her vision.

And at the depot of the London Transport Museum, Tim learns about the latest enamel signs still being made and used across the Underground network, including the signage for the new Windrush Line.

Rail historian, Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway from the London Transport Museum, get exclusive access to explore South Kentish Town - a station once on the Northern Line, but abandoned more than a century ago. Tube trains still run through it, creating an eerie atmosphere and the spookiest sound they've ever heard in a tube station. They explore the disused passageways, reveal the ventilation shafts still working to keep air circulating on the Northern Line today, and tell the story of the passenger once stranded at the station after getting off a train by mistake.

At a secret location somewhere in zone 1, Siddy gets a behind the scenes tour of the London Underground Control Centre . It's the hi-tech mothership of the entire network, sitting in an enormous control room, running operations, power, policing and track access from one central hub. It includes a huge multi-screen display, which can show simultaneous live feeds from any of the 12,000 CCTV cameras on the underground.

At the London Transport Museum depot, Tim meets one of the underground's buskers to hear the secrets to her craft - from how you get a pitch to which songs work best at which stations.

Rail historian, Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway from the London Transport Museum, reveal the incredible story of the Thames Tunnel - the first successful tunnel built under a major body of water anywhere in the world.?It was built by Brunel and his father - and not originally intended for trains - but today links Rotherhithe and Wapping stations. Without the Thames Tunnel, the London Underground as we know it wouldn't exist. Tim hears about the incredible engineering that made the tunnel possible - as well as the many failed attempts to get it right, including a major flood. Siddy walks the tracks in search of evidence of the tunnel's original construction, revealing a series of striking arches.

In Lambeth North, Siddy explores this classic Leslie Green station, one of the least used in zone 1. But it has a significant history as a shelter during the Second World War, and as a training base for London Transport workers, especially women drafted in to work on the tube during the war.

At the London Transport Museum depot, Tim gets the inside story on plans to extend the Bakerloo line into south east London - including the building of a brand new 21st century tunnel.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway get privileged access to the vast maintenance depot at Ruislip, at the end of the Central Line. It's the nerve-centre for all the engineering that takes place on the tube, from routine track repairs to emergency engineering. Tim gets a demonstration of how tracks are replaced, as a crane lifts huge pre-assembled sections of railway track into place. Siddy gets in the driving seat of a machine that moves ballast into place under sleepers to hold the track in position.

At Warren Street, on the Northern and Victoria lines, Siddy explores the station's constant reinvention. It first opened in the early 1900s, was remodelled in the 1930s and then had a massive make-over in the 60s when the Victoria line arrived. There's plenty of evidence of its past - including exquisite original tiles in a former spiral stair shaft.

At the London Transport Museum depot, Tim meets a poet who has had her work chosen to appear as part of the 'Poems on the Underground' series. She tells Tim about the idea behind the poem - remembering helping her mum hang out the laundry when she was a child.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway get incredible access to the maintenance depot at Northumberland Park in north London, responsible for looking after the entire fleet of Victoria Line trains. Tim meets the team checking all the carriages, and sees the incredible precision needed to finely shave the metal wheels to keep them running smoothly on the tracks. Siddy climbs the 1960s control tower and finds a vintage control panel still in working order, directing the points on the track to make sure each Victoria Line train coming into the depot goes to the right place.

Tim and Siddy get to ride on the private service that links the depot with Seven Sisters station - alighting at its mysterious third platform.

At Finsbury Park station on the Victoria and Piccadilly lines, Siddy does a night-time track walk to access the now-disused tunnel which was part of an early experiment to run large electric mainline trains on the tube.

At the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, Tim meets museum's CEO to hear about the importance of design across the tube network, and they look at the bespoke designs for seating fabric across different underground lines.

Rail historian Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway from the London Transport Museum, explore the rich history of Stockwell station on the Victoria Line. It was originally the terminus station for the City and South London Railway - the first ever deep level electric tube railway in the world, and the birth of the tube as we know it.?Tim finds evidence of a deep level shelter used by Londoners during the Second World War. On the platforms, he reveals something rather more contemporary - the tiles depicting a swan in homage to a local pub. As Siddy descends deep into the station, she finds metallic tiles on the walls and cast iron segments in a disused lift shaft, each crucial relics of their era.

Siddy visits the main depot for the Docklands Light Railway. She hears how they're developing new technology to alert them to any passengers on the tracks. And she gets an exclusive preview of their new fleet of trains, currently on test runs along the network.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway meet at Gloucester Road in London's museum quarter - a station serving the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines.

Tim Dunn and Siddy Holloway explore the unusual station at Old Street, which serves both the Northern line and mainline trains.