Indeed. They're becoming bloody tiresome.
You're not obliged to watch their videos, and it's easy to skip forward and back on YouTube too.
I haven't watched all the videos, even though I've conversed with Geoff in the past and know the video editor well. I just haven't had the time.
It seems odd that some people have the time, but would perhaps be better off using that time to not watch something they don't like.
I am sure these videos, and the social media interactions, has made some ordinary people more keen to use the railway and travel to places they may never have seen before. Even regular rail commuters may never venture very far beyond their A to B route.
Just a few days after their trip from Carlisle to Settle, I did the same route. It was a very good experience that I knew all about long ago, but had never got around to, but now I am sure a lot more people will seek this out - and that's just one of hundreds of stations that I am sure people would now be interested to visit.
BUT most people aren't going somewhere for the station, or the rolling stock used, they're going because it links you to a village, town or city that has something worth visiting for. So venturing outside of the confines of Network Rail property seems like a sensible idea.
Finally, I am sure the videos changed as time went on and for good reason. For one, to stop becoming repetitive, but also because they invited feedback throughout and would have concentrated on giving people what they wanted.
They got a lot of requests and could also see which videos got the most views (and YouTube analytics shows which parts of any video gets the most views, where people stop watching etc).
I think they've done a fantastic job, but anyone who thinks they could do better is perfectly able to give it a shot. It's not something that anyone else is restricted from doing; you just buy some ALRs, plan your journeys, buy the necessary camera equipment, get the right editing software and computers, make sure you've got enough data to upload your videos (and time to encode/upload in rural areas with ropey mobile data and Wi-Fi), sort out hotels and transportation, plan your sustenance and make sure you come up with interesting things to say on camera for the next couple of months.