SBS’ three-hour train documentary The Ghan averages more than 400,000 viewers
Cricket has dominated the TV ratings for the past few weeks, but last night a three-hour commercial-free documentary on SBS gained traction.
The Ghan, a “slow TV train journey”, aimed to put viewers in the passenger seat of the train as it travels from Adelaide to Darwin. The show ran from 7:30pm to 10:30pm.
The Ghan was the most boring program I have ever watched.
I switch off at 20.30 hours. Some ads would have been welcome.
I agree. Mind numbingly boring. Thousands probably tuned in, as we did, to get a feel for whether they would like to do the trip which is on the bucket list of most retired Australians, not to mention hundreds of thousands of backpackers. I think this programme would have had the opposite effect, Thousands (us included) will now strike The Ghan journey permanently from their bucket lists. I kept watching for over an hour, thinking it might get better, but alas it was just more of the same boring footage of the train trundling along. I expected to get more feeling for the experience of actually riding the train but there were endless shots of the train from every angle, even the underside, and drone footage of things that could not be see from the train. It was all so pointless and disappointing.
after the great build up to the ghan, specifying for the last few weeks, that their would be no
commercials,,I found it to be one of the most boring programs that s. b. s. has put to air, as well as
the the train journey being thousands of miles of scrub and nothingness, which I had done
five years ago from adelaide,, why did,nt they talk to the passengers?? The driver of the train
spoke no more than three words,, the passengers were non existent,,, do you know of
michael portillio on channel two who promotes great british rail way journeys,,
once again a very dissapointing show , as we are hearing from 2gb listeners as of to-day
even to-day, people are saying to me. we will not be going on the ghan
Somewhat like your Comments then.
I thought the above comments were sarcasm at first but then realised they just didn’t get the concept of slow TV. I totally get this style of TV, where less is more, is not to everyone’s taste but to those of us who do, this is 100 times better than Michael Portillo’s train journeys.
The ghan was a fantastic documentary, it was like you were on it so relaxing to watch due to no reporters or someone continually talking.
The history and how you did it like a power point was awesome.
I didn’t know that much about the Ghan.
If it comes out on DVD I will definitely buy it.
Showed what the Australian land really is and how beautiful, remote and big our country is.
Please do another one on another transfer to perth, and Adelaide to Melbourne.
Congratulations !!!
This documentary is probably responsible for hoards of people now eliminating The Ghan from their bucket lists. Tediously boring.
Is the program about The Ghan going to come out on DVD because I would like a copy and if so where can i get it from? 🙂
Is The Ghan Aust. Greatest train journey avaliable on d v d
Can we have a repeat please? Missed it because of storms in region!
I enjoyed watching The Ghan…unfortunately I could not stay up for the whole 3 hours…it would have been much more enjoyable if SBS had shown it in 2 part series ????? as I would love to see the arrival at Darwin…
I am curious to know, was The Ghan sponsored content? If not what is the benefit to SBS of a three hour program with no ads?
Having been involved in the commercial business of the national Australian rail industry, including family trips on the Indian Pacfic I can say this program has set back the carefully created image and experience created by GSR of long distance passenger rail in Australia almost to the days of steam. There is or was a “romance in rail” thanks to this showing it is dead.
We have recently traveled on the ghan expidition and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. After watching the 3 hr show we counted the number of sleepers on the track. Great Southern Railways will be embarrassed . Very few shots of the interior of the train, the special compartments, lounge cars, dining cars with the great meal choices and day trips. Waste of time and money, not a promotion of the great train trip.
Watching the tv advertisements I thought to myself who would watch such a boring show?
It turned out to be me, all 3 hours.
I found it mesmerising, peaceful and meditative.
Loved all the different camera angles especially from above seeing how vast the country is.
The lack of commentary at first confused me but the longer it went the more I realised it would have ruined the experince.
Thankyou all involved for such an enjoyable experience.
Just loved The Ghan. So peaceful and relaxing. Great viewing SBS.
The most boring documentary ever watched. Full of obvious lies like “This is the oldest led smelter in the world” (Humans have been smelting lead for thousands of years).
What a waste of time and money.
The most interesting part was the driver scratching his nose and talking on the phone in the speaker while keeping the microphone on his ear.
I’ve thought to go on Ghan, but after this “documentary” I decided not to. Total anti propaganda for Australian railways. Should not be produced by amateurish people involved – I can make better using my phone for much less money.
I looked forward to viewing this program. Unfortunately, it missed out what could have been a wonderful promotion for The Ghan. Hardly any commentary, captions were mostly unreadable due to being to far too the right of the TV screen, views from the from the train were uninteresting and could have been anywhere. I could go on, but I’m sure your got the message … B_O_R_I_N_G, to say the least.
Having recently traveled on the Ghan (and other trains around the world), I have to say that the Ghan is the most over-hyped and disappointing train trip I have ever been on.
Aging, noisy, uncomfortable (no sleep on the first night) and ordinary food. Plus not delivering luggage to the room meant that we had no toiletries. Glad I only book for one night.
The Australian could learn a lot from the Brits or the Japanese in how to run a (supposedly) iconic railway.
Of course, if you have spent all your holidays camping with the kids, only to be able to afford the Ghan when you retire, then you are the sort of person who will find this luxurious. For those of you who travel around the world for holidays, keep going overseas for a decent experience.
Makers of SBS The Ghan Train program. Important: do not pay attention to those disliked the program. I am speaking for all those who loved it. SBS did a great job. I have been on the sister train the Indian Pacific twice . As I watched the program I felt I was on The Ghan. Is great for those unable to travel on trains. When is the DVD coming out?
The three hour programme on the Ghan Adelaide to Darwin Rail journey was a unique television experience. It captured the essence of the Ghan’s geographic and historic journey. Magnificent photography showed this iconic rail journey across awesome landscape. Some of this actual and portrayed journey may appear to some as boring and tedious. We need to take more time to look deeply into our landscape and beyond. Have travelled by rail in China, Egypt, Vietnam and more – all awesome. Our Ghan (top food and service from go to whoa with wonderful off train experiences) and our landscape is also awesome. Looking forward to an Indian Pacific experience. Justin Burke’s article Weekend Australian Jan 6 – 7 Review Savour a Relaxing Journey, explains the genre of Slow Television. Worth reading for a better understanding of this kind of television. More please SBS.
I have traveled on a lot of trains around the world and if you think that this is the greatest train trip you must be a lot of sad people, and should travel a bit more and see what a great train trip really is maybe Asia, Europe, UK and some of the like’s.
Absolutely the worst railway/train programme I have ever seen, probably made by a couple of gunzels who get a kick out of travelling up front in the cab of a train. We saw nothing of anywhere the train visited, no wildlife in a barren landscape, and even crossing the Roper river the camera panned to observe the driver. All we saw of The Alice, all we saw of Darwin was a platform, together with a countdown of the train coming to a stop: incredible! The film makers should sit down and see what Michael Portillo and others can make of a train journey. What an opportunity lost!
Wonder how many people googled “Goyder Line”
I loved it. There is a time and place for slow TV. It’s nice to have something you can play in the background, tuning in occasionally, otherwise maintaining conversation with family and friends with interesting imagery in the background. I learnt a few things whilst also feeling relaxed- it was nearly medititative.
Sometimes you want to switch the tv on but mentally switch off.
Can we get a slow tv channel?
Well, it was different.
I watched it (with a few tea/toilet breaks) and overall thought it was pretty good.
The “locomotive drivers” made it all worthwhile, especially coming into a terminal and the countdown!
Wow!!
Denis and Maureen; perhaps you could try watching it aghan to see if you missed any good parts. There’s a pretty exciting dining room scene.
Get it?! “Aghan” A GHAN.. bahahaha
I just hope I can buy the DVD. It was impossible for me to watch it all on TV properly. I need lots of nanny-naps at my age, and of course there were other shows on TV that I wanted to watch at the same time and sadly couldn’t be in 2 places at the same time. The criticism from some made me feel sad for them. A lot of people went to a lot of effort to create this amazing footage and I hope they know how much a lot of people really appreciate that. If there is a DVD then I will definitely buy it so that I can watch it at my convenience. Thank you.