Secrets of the London Underground: Season 4, Episode 1

4 - 1: Earl's Court

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.