Great British Railway Journeys

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain by train. He learns to speak Scouse in Liverpool and finds out about the first railway fatality.

Michael Portillo travels around Britain by train. He is fitted for a trilby in Denton and discovers the role the railways had in the creation of fish and chips.

Michael travels back in time on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and sees the latest Roman discoveries in York.

Michael searches for the last liquorice grower in Pontefract and goes fishing for sea bass in Bridlington.

Michael Portillo learns to decipher traditional knitting patterns in Filey and meets Scarborough's 4,000-year-old Gristhorpe Man.

Michael Portillo explores the temperance movement's origins in Preston, visits Blackpool and meets Morecambe Bay's keeper of the sands.

Michael Portillo revisits the Settle-Carlisle line, explores the Ribblehead viaduct and learns about the navvies who helped to build it.

Michael Portillo takes a steamboat tour of Lake Windermere, visits Wordsworth's home village of Grasmere and makes sausages with a local Herdwick sheep farmer.

Michael Portillo meets the wild Border Reivers clansmen, witnesses a wedding in Gretna Green and visits a World War I munitions factory.

Michael Portillo makes apple juice in the Clyde Valley orchards, scales the Forth Rail Bridge and relives childhood memories in Kirkcaldy.

Michael Portillo finds out about free holiday trains for the GWR workers in Swindon, samples the spa in Bath and tries his hand at glass blowing in Bristol.

Michael samples Cheddar strawberries, explores Cheddar Gorge and the famous caves, and visits one of the country's oldest piers at Weston-super-Mare.

Michael Portillo finds out about Torquay's microclimate, goes salmon fishing on the Dart estuary and spends some of Totnes's new local currency.

Michael Portillo visits the largest clay mine in the world, goes pilchard fishing in Mevagissey and finds out how the estate of Heligan shaped British gardens.

Michael Portillo searches for the lost church of St Piran, explores the last working tin mine in Cornwall and harvests oysters on the Helford River.

Michael Portillo helps to repair the ancient peat landscape of the Peak District and travels on the historic steam railway to Rowsley.

Michael Portillo visits the oldest working factory in the world at Cromford and explores the country's first public park in Derby.

Series in which Michael Portillo travels the country by train. He meets the Queen's saddler in Walsall and learns how to cook an Indian curry in Birmingham.

Michael Portillo relives the Coventry Blitz and finds out how the trains helped to evacuate millions of children during World War II.

Michael visits one of the grandest railway stations and hotels in the country - St Pancras. He also rides the world's first tube line to Smithfield market.

Michael Portillo finds out about Brighton's aquarium, explores the underground quarries of Godstone and discovers the wonders of the Crystal Palace.

Michael Portillo finds out about a funeral service running coffins from Waterloo to Brookwood Cemetery and explores the changing fortunes of London's docks.

On a journey from Brighton to Cromer, Michael Portillo visits the government arms factory at Enfield and discovers how the trains transformed Newmarket's races.

Michael Portillo goes fishing with the last eel trapper on the Fens at Ely and visits one of the great triumphs of 19th-century engineering, the Denver Sluice.

Michael Portillo drives a heritage diesel train, finds out why Norfolk black turkeys appeared on the Christmas menu in Bradshaw's day and samples some Cromer crab.

Michael Portillo tastes the Victorian drink perry, encounters a pedigree Hereford bull and visits the world's first iron-framed building in Shrewsbury.

Michael Portillo visits the world's first iron bridge at Coalbrookdale, explores the historic Chirk Castle and has a go at making traditional Cheshire cheese.

Michael Portillo tours Chester's Roman remains, discovers a secret World War II chemical weapons plant at Rhydmwyn and goes mussel fishing on the Conwy estuary.

Michael Portillo explores the Conwy valley, stopping at Britain's first artists' colony at Betws-y-Coed, visiting the Victorian slate capital of Blaenau Ffestiniog and taking a steam train down to the harbour at Porthmadog.

Michael Portillo takes the train to the top of Wales's highest peak, Mount Snowdon, witnesses the revival of Anglesey's sea salt industry and discovers how the railways transformed the tiny port of Holyhead.

Michael visits the first locomotive factory in the world, opened by George Stephenson. He also searches for the lost pit village of Marsden in South Shields and is entertained by a comic troupe of rapper sword dancers in Chester-le-Street.

Michael visits the historic Durham Cathedral, sees one of the first locomotives in Darlington and takes a Dracula tour in Whitby, before ending his journey on a steam train across the North Yorkshire moors.

Michael Portillo takes a Turkish bath in the famous spa town of Harrogate and explores the exemplary Victorian village of Saltaire.

Michael Portillo finds out about shoddy, a successful 19th-century recycling industry in the textile town of Batley, and meets a descendant of George Bradshaw.

Michael Portillo learns the secrets of stilton cheese and finds out how trains transformed the traditional British sport of fox hunting.

Michael Portillo visits the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to see how the railways standardised time and explores the historic dockyards at Chatham.

Michael explores the life of Victorian hop pickers and finds out about Maidstone's revolutionary paper industry.

Michael finds out how Canterbury Cathedral was saved during the Baedeker raids of World War II and explores the origins of a seaside swim in Margate.

Michael explores a secret port that ran the first train ferries to France carrying vital supplies during World War I and visits Walmer Castle.

Michael Portillo discovers how the railway has changed down the years. This episode finds him in Kent, rolling along the scenic south coast to Hastings.

Michael visits the hometown of Robbie Burns, finds out how to make haggis, and discovers how the railways transformed the game of golf in Prestwick.

Michael Portillo explores the historic Dumbarton shipyards that built the Cutty Sark, visits Loch Lomond, and goes hunting for gold in Scotland's mountains.

Michael Portillo discovers how trains spread the word about Oban whisky, hears about the struggle to build a railway across Rannoch Moor and visits Corrour.

Michael investigates the mysterious parallel roads of Glenroy and finds out how the Victorians put a weather observatory on the top of Ben Nevis.

Michael discovers how the railways helped train commandos at Lochailort in World War II and explores the history of the highland crofters in Skye.

Michael Portillo discovers the grave robbing history of Great Yarmouth, and tries his hand at working a Victorian swing bridge in Reedham.

Michael Portillo follows the Victorians' fascination with Britain's own Atlantis to Dunwich and discovers the history of the Port of Felixstowe.

Michael Portillo comes face to face with a medieval politician, takes a rail tour of Victorian freak show hot spots and rides an early electric railway.

Michael Portillo sees how gunpowder made in Waltham Cross fuelled an empire and heads to Hackney to uncover the gruesome details of the first murder on a train.

Michael Portillo takes a ride on a secret miniature railway hidden beneath London's streets and rings the bells of the famous church of Bow.

Michael Portillo visits a station fit for royalty in Windsor, and views an engineering triumph built by Brunel to span the Thames at Maidenhead.

Michael Portillo tastes a Victorian superfood in Alton, and tries his hand at driving a steam train on the challenging Watercress Line.

Michael Portillo experiences the magnificent Victorian organ at Winchester Cathedral, and visits a 19th-century rail works still running in Eastleigh.

On the trail of a Victorian snake catcher, Michael Portillo visits the New Forest seeking out venomous adders. He also uncovers a secret library in Wimborne.

Michael Portillo uncovers the oil fields hidden underneath England's quiet seaside resorts and discovers the crucial role Weymouth played in the D-day landings.

Michael Portillo is led to a special view of the city of Oxford by his 19th-century guidebook and samples a Victorian navvies' brew made by steam power.

Michael Portillo visits the home of Queen Victoria's favourite bishop, and follows in the footsteps of Victorian health fanatics to the Malvern Hills.

Michael Portillo sees why the Victorians fell for the romantic ruins of Tintern Abbey and discovers Britain's hidden micro-mines within the Forest of Dean.

Michael Portillo discovers the Victorian coal heritage that turned Cardiff into the city it is today, and takes a steam ride through Brecon Beacons National Park.

Michael Portillo explores the Victorian railway legacy behind the steel works of Port Talbot and uncovers the whaling past of Milford Haven.

Michael Portillo discovers the unique cross-border history of Berwick-upon-Tweed and hears the unique story of the Pitman Painters of Ashington.

Michael Portillo follows the example of Victorian archaeologists at Hadrian's Wall and sees how the Victorian railways first fuelled invention in Wigton.

Michael Portillo drinks a Victorian brew drawn from the pure waters of Cockermouth and steps inside the hidden world of nuclear reprocessing at Sellafield.

Michael Portillo finds out the secrets behind Kirkby's famous blue slate and submerges himself into a secret world of nuclear submarines in Barrow.

Michael Portillo sets sail from Heysham to the Isle of Man, where he discovers the horse trams of Douglas and the secrets of the giant Laxey Wheel.

Michael Portillo observes the engineering feat involved in building the railway along Dublin's treacherous East coast and explores a Victorian jail.

Michael Portillo explores the railway network within the Bog of Allen, discovering the secrets behind the Boyne Viaduct and exploring the Irish Zinc mines.

Michael Portillo visits the amazing Cromlech stones of Dundalk and travels in style along the steam railway of Downpatrick.

Michael Portillo explores the fascinating history of Belfast's Victorian docks and discovers the Irish spade-making traditions untouched for over 150 years.

Michael Portillo takes a white knuckle walk over the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and experiences the delights of the Giant's Causeway.

Michael Portillo meets the craftsmen behind Victorian furniture and sees Shakespeare through the eyes of a 19th-century railway tourist.

Michael Portillo learns how the railways helped to make Birmingham the world's pen-making capital and hears tales of a notorious Victorian murderer.

Michael Portillo explores one of the greatest locomotive factories in railway history, discovers the dark side of the Industrial Revolution and learns how, in Victorian times, the potteries brought their products to the masses.

Michael Portillo rides the stunning Severn Valley Railway across Victoria Bridge and learns how Victorian blacksmithing was not for the faint-hearted.

Michael Portillo travels to the Victorian seaside resort of Aberystwyth and unleashes the power of a 19th-century engineering triumph.

Michael Portillo feeds the crew of Britain's newest warship and discovers how the Victorians planned to repel a possible French invasion.

Michael Portillo gets close to some Victorian botany at Kew Gardens, tries his hand at croquet and discovers a surprising 19th-century place of worship.

Michael Portillo learns how Victorian fire fighters liked a tipple and discovers how even 19th-century sewage pumps were a celebration of design.

Michael Portillo discovers how derelict Victorian London is being rejuvenated and puts in a shift at a Cambridgeshire brick factory.

Michael Portillo sees how Lincolnshire farmers utilised rails to improve their harvests and visits Lincoln's most impressive cathedral.

Michael Portillo learns about a Scottish hero, visits a Highland Games and discovers how an impressive piece of Victorian engineering ended in tragedy.

Michael Portillo learns how Queen Victoria used to hide from her subjects, discovers how factory workers went deaf and goes out with a bang in Aberdeenshire.

Michael Portillo learns how Victorian whisky trains were raided by robbers and travels along one of Scotland's most impressive viaducts.

Michael Portillo rides one of Scotland's most picturesque railways, visits the smallest station and learns what went into a Victorian-style spa break.

Michael Portillo learns how one man helped bring train travel to the Highlands and hears the remarkable tale of Scotland's Victorian gold rush.

Michael Portillo gets to grips with the old grey matter at a Victorian asylum, gives a historic horse a facelift and makes malt the 19th century way.

Michael Portillo visits a tourist hotspot that's been captivating visitors since the Victorian era and takes to the air in Yeovil.

Michael Portillo explores a church that moves in mysterious ways and summons all his strength to move a one hundred and ten tonne steam locomotive.

Michael Portillo visits a garden used as a viewing platform for public hangings, and experiences a timepiece like no other.

Michael Portillo takes to sea with the heroes of the RNLI, visits a stormy coastal railway and has a close personal encounter with his boyhood hero.

Michael Portillo samples 19th-century foodie delicacies, explores a landscape shot to fame by rails and royals, and risks life and limb for the gift of the gab.

Michael Portillo learns the ancient art of making butter and Ireland's oldest game, then rides the Duke of Devonshire's Victorian Irish railway.

Michael Portillo uses his Victorian guidebook to compare and contrast Ireland then and now. In this episode, Michael tries his hand at cutting marble.

Michael Portillo is on a rail trip through the Irish Republic. He visits the Irish National Stud and uncovers an astronomical feat of Victorian engineering.

On the final leg of Michael Portillo's Irish journey he discovers historic jewellery with royal connections in Galway and meets a people's king.

On the first leg of a journey from Manchester to Chesterfield, Michael Portillo finds out how Manchester gave birth to a revolutionary political movement.

Michael Portillo continues his journey through the north west. He begins in the Lancashire resort of Southport and also stops off in Wigan, Bolton and Leyland.

Michael Portillo continues his journey through the north west. He learns about the Preston Guild, and in Rochdale, discovers a pioneering movement for workers.

Michael Portillo begins this leg of his journey from Manchester to Chesterfield at the home of the three Bronte sisters in Worth Valley, Yorkshire.

Michael completes the last leg of his journey from Manchester to Chesterfield at one of the first stately homes to welcome visitors by rail - Chatsworth.

Michael Portillo begins a journey from London to Leeds. He learns about the Euston Arch before heading to Cheddington, scene of the Great Train Robbery.

Michael Portillo's journey from London to Leeds continues. He explores the first purpose-built railway town at Wolverton and learns to make vellum.

Michael Portillo's journey from London to Leeds continues. He stops off in Northampton, the town of shoemakers, before visiting Rugby, Coventry and Nuneaton.

Michael Portillo's journey from London to Leeds continues. He learns about the discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester and travels to Loughborough.

Michael Portillo reaches the end of the first intercity line from London, visiting Mansfield, Worksop and Doncaster before auditioning at a Leeds music hall.

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey from Southampton to Wolverhampton. He learns to set the table aboard a luxury liner before heading to Basingstoke.

Michael Portillo's journey continues in a military vein, as he views the Duke of Wellington's funeral carriage and visits the army camp at Aldershot.

On the third leg of his journey, Michael Portillo learns how demand from rail commuters fuelled the development of the modern printing press.

Michael Portillo's journey to Wolverhampton continues. He visits Clifton Zoo in Bristol and finds out why Gloucester station became known for lost luggage.

Michael Portillo joins battle re-enactors in Tewkesbury before reaching his destination of Wolverhampton.

Michael Portillo explores Norwich's medieval heart. In the city's Norman castle he uncovers the Victorian public's gory fascination with crime and punishment.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from the east coast to the south coast beginning in the port of Ipswich, capital of the farming county of Suffolk.

Michael Portillo heads along the Essex bank of the Thames before crossing the river into the Garden of England, Kent. He begins this leg at Barkingside.

Michael Portillo heads for Dover, little more than 25 miles from the historic enemy, the French. Here he uncovers one of Dover's best kept secrets.

Michael Portillo discovers the history behind the Pavilion at Brighton and learns that Queen Victoria was not an admirer of the Prince Regent's taste.

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through southern Scotland from west to east. From Ayr, he admires Ailsa Craig before getting to grips with curling.

Michael Portillo continues his travels through the Scottish lowlands. From Greenock, he sets sail in the world's last seagoing paddle steamer.

Michael Portillo continues his journey through southern Scotland. He celebrates Victorian iron and steel in Motherwell, admiring the Forth Rail Bridge.

Michael Portillo begins his journey in Stirling, where he visits the scene of a bloody battle at Bannockburn. In Perth, he learns how to make a sporran.

On the last leg of his journey across Scotland from west to east, Michael Portillo pays homage to the birthplace of golf at St Andrews.

Michael Portillo embarks on a series of journeys through London. He travels on the capital's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Line.

Michael Portillo embarks on a series of journeys through London. He is invited aboard the construction locomotive for Crossrail.

Michael Portillo embarks on a series of journeys through London. He takes the high-speed line to Stratford to explore the legacy of the Olympic Park.

Guided by his Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo explores London's theatreland and discovers how 19th-century engineering made for spectacular theatricals.

On the last of his journeys in the capital, Michael Portillo explores Albertopolis and reaches dizzying heights inside a Victorian landmark.

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey from the East Midlands to the island of Lindisfarne. On this leg, he gives an old engine a fresh start in Derby.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from Derby to Lindisfarne. In Boston, Lincolnshire, he explores the connection between the town and its American namesake.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from the heart of the East Midlands to Northumberland's Holy Island. In Hessle, he learns about the Humber Bridge.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from Derby to Lindisfarne. In Middlesbrough, he visits one of the last cast-iron foundries in the city.

Michael Portillo journeys from Newcastle up the north east coast to Lindisfarne. He finds out about the world's earliest swing bridge and its inventor.

Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey from west Wales to East Anglia. He investigates what caused riotous rebels to dress up as women in Narberth.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from Pembroke Dock to Cambridge. En route, he learns about the Victorian signalling system still in place today.

Michael Portillo begins underground at Big Pit coal mine in Blaenavon before making his way to Blenheim Palace, where he investigates a historic fire.

Michael Portillo visits the Bodleian, Oxford University's research library, to see some Victorian treasures including a pocket-size edition of Bradshaw's Companion.

On the final leg of his journey from west Wales to East Anglia, Michael Portillo begins in Oakham before heading east to Stamford and on to Cambridge University.

Michael begins his journey at a biscuit factory in Carlisle. He heads to a miniature railway display before heading out on Britain's only Via Ferrata, a tightrope challenge 300 feet above the Borrowdale Valley.

Michael continues his journey through the Lake District, were he learns more about the work of Beatrix Potter. He then heads to Brantwood, home to a famous Victorian art critic, before heading to Carnforth.

Michael heads to Preston where he discovers four millers were shot dead by soldiers. In Darwen he traces developments in interior design. Before heading to Kersal Moor were he learns more about the Lancashire dialect.

Michael begins this part of his journey in Merseyside, here he looks at the art of modern glassmaking and explores how buildings like Crystal Palace were constructed.

Michael heads to Ashley to explore villas with multiple chimneys. He then goes to Macclesfield, were he finds the end of the Silk Route. He then heads to Alton Towers to explore the modern theme park.

Michael heads from Dover to Lewes and attends an opera festival in the South Downs.

Michael heads from Newhaven to Worthing and picks some tomatoes.

Michael journeys from Littlehampton to Beaulieu, where he gets the chance to drive the first motor car.

Michael journeys from Lymington Town to Exmouth, where he discovers a forgotten local artist.

Michael journeys from Plymouth to Porthcurno and learns how to make the perfect pasty.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael Portillo blasts off from Birmingham's jewellery quarter to the sound of the Acme whistle.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael heads for the sharp end of the Victorian industrial revolution at a needle manufactory in Redditch.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael takes pot luck on the snooker table as he investigates the Victorian origins of the game.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael experiences a Victorian tannery. Reaching Glastonbury, Michael heads for the mystical abbey.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael stands trial at the Bloody Assizes in Taunton and gets to grips with a miracle of Victorian engineering.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael begins a new journey in Ashford, Kent, lending a hand at a state-of-the-art train maintenance plant.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. At East Grinstead, Michael dons a boiler suit and takes to the footplate of a loco on the Bluebell Railway.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael uncovers the story of Britain's first purpose-built crematorium, a response to overcrowded cemeteries.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. Michael is treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the world's longest vine at Hampton Court Palace.

Michael Portillo journeys around Britain. In Egham, a perfectly preserved, historic steam fair offers the original white-knuckle ride.

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey from London to Edinburgh with the help of his 19th-century guidebook. A once-in-a-lifetime journey aboard the most famous train in history, the Flying Scotsman, begins for Michael before dawn at London's King's Cross. Excitement builds on the platform as the world's media, fans and 300 passengers await the arrival of railway royalty. Boarding a vintage carriage, Michael recaptures the glamour of the 1930s, when the Flying Scotsman's passengers dined, sipped cocktails and had their hair done en route to Scotland. Among his fellow passengers are a former Flying Scotsman driver and a previous owner of the locomotive. But all does not go to plan, and the historic non-stop service is forced to halt for trespassers on the track. Arriving at York, Michael meets the restoration team and gets his hands on the hallowed controls.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from London to Edinburgh with the help of his 19th-century guidebook. After the excitement of his ride on the Flying Scotsman, Michael begins a new journey with his Bradshaw's guide book north from London, following the historic service's path at a more leisurely pace. Along the way he is forced to expend more effort than usual on the rails as he pumps a track inspection trolley. A Swiss garden in Bedfordshire delivers an unexpected spectacle of early 20th-century engineering marvels and the chance to drive a 'locomobile'. Michael then goes back to school at Haileybury, once a training college for the East India Company, where the master is unimpressed by Portillo's exam performance. At Rothampsted, Michael discovers the Victorian origins of the fertiliser industry and a treasure trove of plant and soil samples.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from London to Edinburgh with the help of his 19th-century guide book. Following his trip from London to York on board the Flying Scotsman, Michael uses his Bradshaw's to trace the path of the famous service, beginning in the 'Key of the North' Newark-on-Trent and finishing in the cradle of the railways, Stockton-on-Tees. Michael rallies the choristers of a Tudor song school and admires the art of the railways before travelling to Retford, where he discovers a high-tech application for a Victorian rubber technology. A scandalous novel written in Thirsk leads Michael to a wildlife centre, where he is enlisted to feed a hungry young hedgehog named Charles.

Michael Portillo continues his journey from London to Edinburgh at a leisurely pace up the East Coast Main Line. In Newton Aycliffe, he tests a state-of-the-art passenger train on tracks which follow the route taken by George Stephenson's steam engine on its historic journey in 1825. Through the looking glass at Croft-on-Tees he discovers a curious potion at the childhood home of Victorian writer Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, and finds the author was also a fan of Bradshaw. In the coastal village of Craster, Michael discovers the Victorian smokehouses of a family firm still active today and learns how to smoke a kipper. Crossing the Scottish border he reaches Dunbar, birthplace of a visionary Scot who made his mark on the landscape of America. Michael ends this leg rocking the boat on the River Tyne in a coracle.

Michael Portillo concludes his journey from London to Edinburgh. Steered by his Bradshaw's Handbook, Michael helps himself to a ukulele lesson in Haddington, birthplace of Victorian self-improvement guru Samuel Smiles. In Musselburgh, he gets a taste of life as a fishwife before exploring the Scottish capital Edinburgh, where a popular 19th-century mode of transport is making a comeback. The city's proud medical heritage, highlighted in his guide book, takes Michael to the Royal College of Surgeons, where he discovers the macabre history of body snatchers and murderers who contributed to the science of anatomy. At the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Michael learns from the Queen's surgeon in Scotland how students use sophisticated technology to study anatomy today.

There is terror on the tracks in Blackpool as Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey across Bradshaw's Britain with his Victorian guidebook. He makes potent new friends in Fleetwood then heads to Manchester, where George Stephenson built the world's first modern railway line. This epoch-defining achievement is being incorporated into a new multi-million pound rail link between Manchester's Victoria and Piccadilly stations and Michael lends a hand with the welding. At a moving ceremony in Manchester Piccadilly station, Michael unveils a new monument to 87 railwaymen of the London and North Western Railway, who lost their lives in the Great War.

Michael Portillo's journey from the Irish Sea to the North Sea continues by tram from Manchester. At the imposing town hall of the world's first industrial city, Michael comes face to face with the Victorian scientist who invented modern atomic theory. He then heads to the city's National Graphene Institute, where he learns to make the groundbreaking material invented there by two Nobel prize-winning scientists. His Bradshaw's leads him to an 18th-century settlement built by refugees from Europe. Next, deep underground at Standedge, Michael discovers an ambitious Victorian engineering marvel. At Silkstone Common, he tracks down the forge where a Victorian metallurgist created wrought iron axles strong enough for railway rolling stock and is delighted to discover the works operates its own miniature train.

From Chapeltown, Michael heads to Wharncliffe Crags, where he plucks up courage to follow in the terrifying footholds of the Victorian daredevil who made rock climbing a sport. The relative calm of academia beckons at Sheffield University but, face to face with a hagfish, Michael's visit to the Alfred Denny Collection proves an eye-opener. At Conisbrough, Michael learns how Victorians flocked to visit the castle which inspired Sir Walter Scott's immensely popular novel, Ivanhoe. This leg of his journey, following what was once known as the North Country Continental service, finishes in the engineering centre of Doncaster, where Bradshaw's leads him to investigate an enlightened Victorian's school for deaf children.

Steered by his Bradshaw's railway handbook to Gainsborough, Michael Portillo wraps his head around an ingenious Victorian machine which changed shopping forever. In Lincoln, he discovers the verse and popularity of 19th-century Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and finds poetry thrives today in a city pub. In the Cambridgeshire Fens, Michael recycles rails and ballast at what was once the largest freight marshalling yard in Europe. At Ely, Michael discovers that the city's magnificent cathedral was restored by the Victorian architect George Gilbert Scott.

Michael Portillo is on the final leg of his journey following the route of the North Country Continental service to Harwich. Along the way, he meets volunteers on the Mid-Suffolk Light railway and is allowed to drive The Middy. In Leiston, Michael uncovers an intriguing industrial pioneer - the world's first purpose-built assembly line. The work of a young Victorian engineering prodigy impresses Michael in Ipswich. In Harwich, he discovers how the port became a gateway to the continent and was then superseded by a new deep-water port further inland. Michael lends a hand below decks to ensure all is shipshape before one of the vast ferries leaves for the Hook of Holland.

Armed with his Bradshaw's Handbook, Michael Portillo begins a journey across Ireland. In the port of Wexford, he takes to the seas in a 100-year-old lifeboat and discovers a hero of the American navy. He tunes in to the Meeting of the Waters at the Vale of Avoca, then heads for Wicklow, where he learns of a Victorian project to combat sickness and disease in the capital, Dublin. Embracing the gentler pace of life of a traditional Irish traveller in Victorian times, he ends this leg in a beautiful horse-drawn, barrel-top caravan.

At Trinity College, Dublin, Michael Portillo discovers one of Ireland's greatest treasures and learns how it became the symbol of the nation. There is a chance to sample the black stuff in a Dublin pub before Michael learns how Victorian royals were deployed to calm rocky relations between Britain and Ireland. He explores the magnificent house and gardens of Powerscourt in County Wicklow. Finding an angle on triangulation helps Michael to understand how Ireland was put on the map - and why.

Michael Portillo gets up to speed with modern archaeology in County Meath and uncovers a controversial Victorian dig at the sacred Hill of Tara. He investigates leaping salmon in Leixslip and discovers an electrifying breakthrough at an historic seminary. At Mullingar, Michael bangs the drum for the town's marching band.

With his Victorian Bradshaw's guidebook in hand, Michael Portillo crosses the Emerald Isle uncovering Irish identity, forged at a time of political strife. Travelling through the beautiful landscape, Michael learns how it inspired one of the 20th century's greatest poets, WB Yeats. In Dromod, Michael learns how to make an Irish staple - a potato pancake, known as boxty. At the home of the father of Irish fiddling, Michael attempts to master a traditional Irish dance.

On the last leg of Michael Portillo's long journey from Wexford to Westport, a fashionable Victorian seaweed bath is followed by a steamy scene in Ballina. On tenterhooks in Foxford, Michael discovers the visionary charity of an entrepreneurial nun. He learns of a double tragedy at Clew Bay and begins a pilgrimage to the summit of Ireland's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick.

Michael Portillo fast tracks to the early 20th century to embark on a new series of railway journeys through Edwardian Britain. His "new" guide book, published over a hundred years ago, unlocks Britain's railways at their zenith, when some 20,000 miles of track reached into every corner of the country. Michael navigates a vibrant and optimistic Britain, at the height of its power and influence in the world, but a nation wrestling with political, social and industrial unrest at home.His first journey follows in the footsteps of the new monarch for the new century, King Edward VII, from the grand estates of Norfolk to a bivouac on Brownsea Island. In this first episode, Michael takes a pot shot at the sport of kings at a country estate, where the king dallied with his mistress. He learns the ropes aboard an Edwardian wherry on the Norfolk Broads and joins variety performers to tap dance on Cromer Pier. In Cambridge, he investigates the student days of the young Prince of Wales and the novelist EM Forster, author of Howard's End.

Armed with his early 20th-century Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo explores an Edwardian utopia with a radical plan at its heart. Michael joins a garden party where a fourth-generation citizen of Letchworthintroduces him to the city's community spirit. Heading into the capital, Michael discovers a favoured haunt of King Edward VII and samples the monarch's favourite tipple, the King's Ginger, invented to keep him warm in his horseless carriage.Improvements to the London Underground in the early 20th century gave us a network of electric railways, which shaped our modern capital. Inside London's newest rail tunnel, Michael meets engineer Jonathan Cooper to discover more about current improvements to London's oldest deep-level tube line, the Northern line, which is being extended.

Steered by his Edwardian Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo arrives in west Croydon, where he uncovers a once-celebrated, now forgotten, mixed-race composer with an uncannily familiar name. With the modernBritish rail network now half the size of the Edwardian one, Michael is delighted to discover a railway renaissance in Three Bridges. After inspecting a new depot and its fleet of new Class 700 trains, Michael is accorded the great honour of washing one down. Next stop Lewes, where Michael makes a beeline for Charleston, the beautiful home of the artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, where he finds every surface exquisitely decorated by the inhabitants. At Shoreham-by-Sea, Michael discovers that magnificent Edwardians in flying machines took off from the oldest licensed airport in the country. Michael takes to the skies.

His early 20th-century Bradshaw's guide in hand, Michael Portillo is in Chichester, West Sussex, where he encounters an Edwardian motoring duo patronised by King Edward VII. After a grand tour of their factory, he is treated to some R&R in one of their finest vehicles. Arriving in the seaside resort of Southsea, Hampshire, Michael heads for the majestic King's Theatre, built by a renowned theatre designer of the day. He treads the boards with a group of true thespians, in a community production of Lads in the Village. Crossing the Solent with a ticket to Ryde, Michael boards the Island Line to travel along the pier in a 1930s London Underground carriage, then hops on to the Isle of Wight heritage line bound for Wootton. His destination is Osborne House, where the future King Edward VII spent much of his childhood.

Steered by his Edwardian Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo promises to do his best on the island where Robert Baden Powell began the Scout movement in the early 20th century. Joining a group of modern Scouts, he learns to build a bivouac and finds out what it is about Scouting that still appeals to boys - and girls - today. In the New Forest, Michael searches out some unsung heroes of the First World War, the ponies who became war horses, and hears their story from a commoner who runs a stable and riding school. Plus, in Bournemouth, he investigates a very British institution: the beach hut.

Michael Portillo embarks on an adventure from the coalfields of south Wales to the southernmost tip of Cornwall. His first stop is Whitland in Carmarthenshire, where in the early 20th century, thrill-seekers gathered on Pendine Sands to indulge their need for speed. In Llanelli, Michael retraces the fateful events of a national rail strike in 1911 and is stirred by the sound of a male voice choir as they sing the town's unofficial anthem. At Loughor, he discovers a passionate preacher, who led a religious revival which gripped Edwardian Wales and had profound implications for the nation's established Church. In a suburban semi-detached house in the 'sprawling, crawling town of Swansea', Michael discovers the restored home of the poet Dylan Thomas, and the tiny bedroom in which he wrote two-thirds of his published work.

Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw's guide, Michael strikes gold at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, where after much frisking, he gains access to the inner vaults. At Cardiff Arms Park, Michael revisits the scene of a triumphant Welsh victory over the fearsome All Blacks and hears from Welsh international Gerald Davies. In Cardiff Bay, Michael discovers the departure point for one of the Edwardian era's most famous expeditions - Scott's ill-fated voyage to the Antarctic. Aboard the racing yacht Challenge Wales, Michael meets young sailors training for a Tall Ships Race.

Michael Portillo discovers the birthplace of British aviation in Bristol and prepares an Airbus 380 for a smooth landing at Filton. In Newport, he uncovers the heroism of a young boy who rescued a workman from a dock disaster, in which many died. Michael discovers the home of a forward-thinking Edwardian family at Eagle House in Batheaston. Frieda Roberts remembers the suffragettes who campaigned for votes for women in the early 20th century and found refuge at the house after their release from prison. And in Clevedon, Michael goes to the movies in a perfectly preserved cinema dating from 1912 and hears about the first film to be shown there.

With purple, green and yellow ribbons flying, and sporting ankle bells, Michael Portillo is led a merry dance in Stogumber - all in the name of fertility. He visits a celebrated Edwardian garden at Hestercombe to discover the fruits of an unusual partnership and learns how to deadhead the roses. There is a trip aboard the longest heritage line in England and the chance to ring in the new era at Exeter Cathedral before dining out in style on King Edward VII's coronation gala dinner at Bovey Castle.

Steered by his early 20th-century Bradshaw's railway guide, Michael Portillo boldly goes to the moon by way of the Cornish Riviera Express. On the trail of an historic achievement made at the dawn of the Edwardian era, he investigates the first radio signal to be sent across the Atlantic. In Plymouth, Michael uncovers what happened to surviving crew members of the most famous ocean liner in history, the Titanic. And at Fowey, he rediscovers a lost literary figure known as Q, who immortalised the town in his novels.

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through Britain steered by his Edwardian railway handbook. He begins in the East Yorkshire port of Hull, where he heads for the docks through which millions of migrantspassed at the turn of the 20th century and which are today getting a second wind.At Cottingham, Michael picks up the trail of the future King Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales. Bertie, as he was known in the family, became embroiled in scandal after a high-stakes game of cards in the grand house of Tranby Croft.Next stop is the beautiful seaside town of Scarborough, which Michael discovers was reeling in 1914 from bombardment by German warships and still carries the scars. Rose gardens, follies and Baroque architecture belonging to a radical countess entice Michael to the market town of Malton, where he finds Howards still inhabit their castle.

Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo conducts important research in an historic tea room, built by an Edwardian immigrant to the city of York. Research of a more sombre kind leads Michael to the roots of our modern welfare state in the work of an early 20th-century Quaker investigator, whose family manufactured chocolate.Next stop is Leeds, where Michael discovers the city's textile heritage, which relied in Edwardian times on a group of skilled Jewish immigrants to take it forward. Michael learns how some of the big names built their empires in Leeds and measures up to a footballing legend. At Bradford Grammar School, Michael hears the story of a talented Edwardian student who became a famous composer and enjoys one of his works, sung by a music pupil of today.

With his Edwardian railway guidebook tucked under his arm, Michael Portillo is in the steel city of Sheffield, where he discovers an enormous and beautifully preserved early 20th-century steam engine. At 400 tonnes and packing 12,000 horsepower, it produced armour plate for the most feared warship of the Royal Navy.Heading south into Nottinghamshire, Michael reaches what was once the most successful coalfield in Europe. He follows his Bradshaw's guide to the former pit village of Eastwood, where he finds the birthplace of a man then called Bert, better known today as DH Lawrence. The author of Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover opened the eyes of Edwardian society to the life of the working class and challenged their attitudes towards sexuality.Michael changes gear at Langley Mill, where at the turn of the 20th century a forward-thinking entrepreneur founded a bicycle company which is still at the cutting edge of cycling today. Michael finishes with a dip in the briny at Nantwich.

Michael Portillo's Edwardian railway guide takes him to the city of Liverpool, where King Edward VII had recently laid the foundation stone for a grand Anglican cathedral at the top of St James's Mount. The young winner of a competition to design the building was a Roman Catholic from a family of architects. His name was Giles Gilbert Scott. Michael takes a trip down his own memory lane in Maghull on the outskirts of Liverpool, where he discovers a childhood favourite - a miniature tank engine with three carriages in dark red - made by Frank Hornby.Heading west to Wales, Michael skirts the coast to reach Abergele, where he visits the romantic ruined Gwrych Castle. He learns the story of its fervently Welsh countess, the last of the Lloyds of Gwyrch, and admires the dedication to her legacy of a young man devoted to restoring the estate. In Dolgarrog, in the mountains of Snowdonia, Michael rides the waves with a Welsh national surfing champion in a former aluminium smelting works founded in the early 20th century.

With his Edwardian Bradshaw's railway guide tucked under his arm, Michael Portillo begins the last leg of his journey from Hull to Caernarfon. In picturesque Snowdonia, he braves the fastest zip line in the world - stretching 1,500 feet across a vast slate quarry. He uncovers a bitter industrial dispute between quarrymen and the owner of the pit, Lord Penrhyn, which divided the community at the beginning of the 20th century.Riding north Wales's splendid heritage railways, Michael visits the home of British mountaineering, Pen y Gwryd, to hear how an Edwardian journalist and poet created a climbing community, which grew to include men who would conquer Everest in the 1950s. Michael meets the grandson of one of his political heroes, the Edwardian prime minister David Lloyd George, at his birthplace in Criccieth. At the impressive 13th-century fortress of Caernarfon, built by English King Edward I, Michael discovers the early 20th-century history behind the ceremony now traditional at the royal investiture of a Prince of Wales.

Armed with his early 20th century Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a new journey through Britain's industrial heartland in the footsteps of King George V. Starting at what was then the gateway to Lancashire - Warrington - Michael discovers this was no ordinary royal tour. He learns how it began with huge excitement among townsfolk, whose mayor, Dr George Joseph, received the royal party in the parlour of Warrington's magnificent town hall.

Michael Portillo continues his rail tour of Britain's industrial northwest, steered by his early nineteenth century Bradshaw's guide. In Blackburn, he catches a rare glimpse of Edwardian life on celluloid and marvels at how factory workers and schoolchildren alike were drawn to seek fame on film. Continuing east to Nelson, Michael braves the enemy camp to have a pint of tea with the socialist working classes in Britain's last Clarion House. Way out of his comfort zone, he is heartened by their warm welcome. Taking his rail campaign south, Michael reaches a magnificently renovated mid-19th century Manchester Victoria station, from where he heads to the Manchester Art Gallery to investigate reports of an outrage in 1913. Michael discovers the former home, now a museum and women's centre, of the radical family that advocated such outrages, the Pankhursts. He hears from the curator what motivated Emmeline and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia and learns how they made themselves heard.

Armed with his early 20th century Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo continues his journey from Warrington to the Potteries in Stoke on Trent. In Manchester at the magnificent Heaton Park, Michael discovers one of the first open-air concerts was held here in 1909 by an opera fan, William Grimshaw, who entertained 40,000 people to the music of opera superstar Enrico Caruso on a gramophone.

Michael Portillo continues his tour of Britain's industrial heartlands guided by his early 20th-century Bradshaw's. Michael heads for Maltby, where he is caught up with the thrill of the chase as he investigates the high-octane sport of whippet racing. He learns how this 'poor man's sport' grew during the 19th century in the mining towns of the north and retains its appeal today.

Michael Portillo reaches Birmingham and discovers how a radical reformer would make his mark on the city of a thousand trades. At Highbury Hall, he finds Joseph Chamberlain's splendid mansion home and hears how he established a political dynasty including a prime minister and a foreign secretary. Next stop is Cradley Heath, at the time of his Bradshaw's one of five chain-making towns in the West Midlands. Michael learns how 90 percent of the chain workshops in England and Wales were located here and that female workers earned a pittance to produce goods in their homes.

Beginning in Newry, Michael Portillo finds a specially chartered train that would deliver demonstrators campaigning for Irish Home Rule to a rally in the town.

Michael Portillo continues his rail journey through Northern Ireland. In Belfast's grand Edwardian City Hall, Michael investigates the scene of a watershed moment in Irish history.

Leaving from the seaport of Larne, Michael Portillo reaches Stranraer and the Mull of Galloway, where in a lighthouse built by Robert Stevenson, he discovers a magnificent machine.

Michael Portillo explores the industrial heartland of Glasgow and its mighty River Clyde before taking the ferry to the island of Cumbrae.

Michael Portillo falls into line with the University of Glasgow's Officer Training Corps.

In Warwick's medieval castle, Michael Portillo uncovers the scene of an extravagant and scandalous ball, which changed the life of its hostess, Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick.

Messing about in boats is the name of the game in Henley on Thames, where Michael Portillo slips into a launch to hear about the world-famous regatta.

In the Queen of the Suburbs, Ealing, Michael Portillo finds comedy at the home of British cinema and is transformed for the silver screen by expert hair and make-up.

At Covent Garden's Royal Ballet School, Michael Portillo hears how in 1909 a Russian ballet company took London by storm.

In Folkestone, Michael Portillo hears how the town coped with an influx of more than 100,000 refugees from Belgium fleeing the German invasion in 1914.

Michael Portillo begins a new series of railway journeys through 1930s Britain, armed with an interwar Bradshaw's guide. He explores an unmistakably modern era of glamorous locomotives, cinema and dance halls but also a time of high unemployment and widespread poverty, when storm clouds gathered across the Channel.Beginning just outside Newcastle in Jarrow, Michael uncovers the desperation which led 200 men to march 300 miles to Westminster in order to petition the government for work.In Newcastle, Michael admires the city's iconic railway bridge before heading to Byker, where he discovers a new innovation in greyhound racing. Tips for picking a winner lead to a photo finish.There's a visit to Durham Cathedral to see the bones of the Father of English History and a chance to fire up the fryer at a coal-powered fish and chip shop frozen in time.In Spennymoor, Michael meets the son of a Durham miner who became one of the most famous 20th-century artists of the North East.

Steered by his 1936 Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo is in Northumbria en route to the Highlands.On this leg, he explores Kielder Forest, beginning at the County Show in Stocksfield. Michael discovers what lay behind a national initiative to plant one of the largest man-made woodlands in Europe.Crossing the border to Scotland, Michael arrives in the weaving town of Hawick to visit Lovat Mill, where, in the 1930s, tweed was big business. A brightly -coloured new design is being prepared.Boarding the recently-restored Scottish Borders Railway at Galashiels, crossing the Newbattle Viaduct, Michael travels to Edinburgh. In the Scottish capital, he investigates the formation of a new political party during the 1930s and visits the spectacular Scottish parliament building, opened in 1999.In Morningside, Michael goes to the movies and in the front stalls at the Dominion cinema, he finds out about the father of documentary, John Grierson.

Michael Portillo's railway journey through 1930s Britain from Newcastle to Loch Ness reaches Falkirk in Scotland. Here he discovers the Westerglen Transmitting Station, from where they continue to broadcast analogue radio signal to the Scottish borders.Following the route of the old Caledonian Railway Company, Michael discovers the 'Riviera of the Highlands'. With a daily direct train service to Kings Cross, Gleneagles remains a top destination and is also HQ for the British School of Falconry. Hamish the Harris hawk is ready to fly.Berry Town, aka Blairgowrie, is Michael's next stop. At the home of the Scottish raspberry industry, which once sent fruit to London daily on board a raspberry special service from Cooper Angus station, Michael learns how to pick this most delicate of berries.Last stop on this leg is the city of Dundee, home of the three Js: jute, jam and journalism. And waiting for Michael at publisher DC Thomson is a black and red striped comic hero beloved of 1930s children.

Michael Portillo continues his railway journey from Newcastle to Loch Ness, steered by his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide.Stopping at Dundee, Michael heads for Glamis Castle, where Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, grew up. Michael hears about her happy childhood and how she later found sanctuary there, when King Edward VIII abdicated and she and Prince Albert unexpectedly became king and queen of the United Kingdom.Striking north along the east coast of Scotland, Michael's next stop is Montrose, from where he makes an excursion into the Eastern Highlands. Here he discovers a network of bothies: remote shelters used by hikers and mountaineers to escape the harsh weather in the hills, and indulges in a wee dram.Continuing on the East Coast Line, Michael arrives in the Granite City of Aberdeen, where research at one of Britain's first institutes of nutrition led to a nationwide programme of free school milk.On Aberdeen beach, once popular with Glaswegian holidaymakers, Michael investigates the city's art deco Beach Ballroom and learns to foxtrot.

Michael Portillo is in the Scottish Highlands on the last leg of his rail journey through 1930s Britain. He begins in Elgin's port, the coastal town of Lossiemouth, where James Ramsay MacDonald, the Labour Party's first prime minister was born. Michael meets his granddaughter to visit the family home and discovers what shaped his politics.On the outskirts of Lossiemouth, Michael finds a remote boarding school established in the 1930s and famous today both for its unusual ideas and its royal former pupils. He hears how the school's founder fled Nazi Germany and joins its fully-working fire service, manned entirely by pupils, for training.Michael's last stop is the city of Inverness, where first he uncovers the work of female photographer MEM Donaldson. She documented a Highland way of life that was rapidly disappearing at the time of his guide.Michael's journey ends at one of the most notorious bodies of water in the world, Loch Ness. He joins the Deep Scan research team as they scour the deep for signs of the elusive monster.

Michael Portillo boards the Great Western Railway at the Cornish seaside resort of St Ives. Steered by his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide, this week he explores the West Country between the wars.In Britain's first studio pottery, Michael attempts a decorative wax technique and feels the heat of the firing kiln. He discovers a Cornish fisherman, who, although he began painting only in his seventies, inspired established artists from the capital.Along the Cornish Riviera at Hayle, Michael joins a family on holiday in a railway carriage called Harvey. From Redruth, Michael makes his way to the former mining village of St Day, where Feast Day celebrations are in full flow.

Michael Portillo is in Cornwall's county town, Truro, with his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide. In the surrounding countryside, he finds the historic estate of Trewithen, whose gardens were stocked from China by professional plant hunters commissioned by its owner.The Atlantic Coast branch line carries Michael north to Newquay, where he discovers a pioneering surfer and braves the waves on a belly board.In the nearby village of St Mawgan, Michael is introduced to the ancient Cornish sport of 'wrassling', which surged in popularity between the wars as part of a Cornish Celtic revival. Champion wrestler Johnny Platt is standing by to take Michael on.At Newquay Airport, he hears about the beginnings of passenger air travel to Cornwall as tourism took off during the 1920s and 30s and finds that future flight could be even faster – in space.

Clutching his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo reaches Bodmin en route to Totnes as he explores the West Country from St Ives to Salisbury Plain.Out on the rugged moor, Michael hears how the celebrated author Daphne du Maurier captivated readers between the wars with her tales of smuggling at the Jamaica Inn.In Devon, Michael takes the plunge at Plymouth's beautiful art deco Tinside Lido. At Ivybridge, he boards a vehicle like no other to cross the causeway to Burgh Island, where a 1930s playboy built a splendid art deco party palace.One stop further on the line, Michael arrives in Totnes, at the medieval Dartington Hall, which at the time of his guidebook became a haven for artists seeking refuge from the dictatorships of Europe. Michael discovers the wealthy couple who owned the estate drew many musicians and controversial choreographers to it. The spirit of modern dance is hard to resist.

Michael Portillo's exploration of the West Country continues in south Devon. Guided by his 1930s Bradshaw's, Michael arrives in Paignton to investigate an extraordinarily high murder rate in the literature of the 1930s! The Dartmouth Steam Railway conveys him in style to the beautiful home of Agatha Christie, in the company of her great-grandson, James Prichard.At Dawlish, Michael discovers violets were so prized between the wars they had their own train to London and that the flower trade continues to flourish at Whetman Pinks, established in the same year as Michael's Bradshaw's.Exeter Station takes centre stage as Michael hears from the granddaughter of publisher Allen Lane how he was inspired to invent the Penguin paperback.Striking north to Tiverton, in the pretty Culm Valley, Michael traces the origins of a national institution, the Young Farmers' Clubs, and sees how the organisation has evolved.

Michael Portillo crosses the county line from Devon into Somerset on his rail exploration of the West Country steered by his 1930s Bradshaw's guide.He sees first-hand how willow farmers sought to overcome the challenge from the production of synthetic plastics during the 1930s. He hears how tourism for all budgets spread across the region, especially amongst the young, for whom youth hostels sprang up, with good wishes from none other than the prime minister of the day, Stanley Baldwin.In the city of Bath, Michael visits the former home of a refugee emperor, whose country was invaded by the Italian dictator Mussolini, and in whose name a religious movement began, which now flourishes worldwide.Travelling east into Wiltshire, Michael reaches the largest training area of the British Army, Salisbury Plain, where the Royal Tank Regiment, established in 1939, is on manoeuvres with its awesome Streetfighter tank.

Steered by his 1930s Bradshaw's guidebook, this week Michael Portillo explores the east of England in the interwar period. Beginning in Canterbury in Kent, Michael treads the boards as he uncovers the political message behind a play, published in 1936, inspired by the 12th-century murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becket.In Maidstone, Michael learns of the international origins of the most British symbol of remembrance, before paying his respects at a war memorial based on London's Cenotaph.Outside Sevenoaks, Michael visits the country home of one of his political heroes, Sir Winston Churchill, and discovers how the 1930s were wilderness years at Chartwell, as Churchill warned against Nazi German appeasement.As Michael enters the capital, there is a visit to the brand new London Bridge station before he heads to Alexandra Palace, the birthplace of television.

Following his 1936 Bradshaw's guidebook, Michael Portillo explores the east of England, in London and Essex, en route to Lincolnshire. On this leg, Michael alights at Limehouse in east London for Cable Street, which became the focus of Britain's fight against fascism in the 1930s.Heading east, he arrives in Dagenham, the location of one of Henry Ford's first car factories in the UK. Michael discovers the story of the first £100 family vehicle and gets behind the wheel of a pioneering pick-up truck.Leaving London, Michael crosses into Essex and in Southend gets the scoop on a seaside favourite, and heads to the world-famous pier with his ‘gelato' cart.In Rochford in Essex, Michael learns how an unusual alliance between London's Crossrail railway project and conservation is helping thousands of birds.

Michael Portillo's railway journey through 1930s Britain from Canterbury to Skegness reaches Witham in Essex. Here he visits the factory of the world's oldest supplier of metal framed windows which became popular in the 30s.Crossing into Suffolk, Michael alights at Ipswich and discovers the story of a group of child refugees whose history is intertwined with that of Michael's family.In the village of Newbourne, over a pint with the locals, Michael hears the story of the rural resettlement scheme that helped over a thousand unemployed industrial workers from the north.Last stop on this leg is Felixstowe, where Michael boards a boat to reach an isolated country house, where secret research was underway in the 1930s. When war came, the experiments performed here saved Britain from defeat.

Michael Portillo continues his railway journey through eastern England from Canterbury to Skegness steered by his 1930s Bradshaw's guidebook. Stopping at Saxmundham in Suffolk, Michael heads for Snape Maltings, a concert and arts venue, and learns how the music and life of one of Britain's greatest composers was shaped by the sea and his Suffolk surroundings.Striking north, Michael's next stop is the Norfolk seaside resort of Great Yarmouth, where he visits a recently restored 1930s water garden which evokes the city of the Rialto and the gondolier.Heading inland, Michael arrives in the historic city of Norwich, which in the 1930s was the shoe making capital of Britain. He hears how a particular style of ladies shoe put Norwich on the front foot and he puts his heart and soul into slipper making at one of city's oldest cordwainers.Michael completes his tour of Norwich with a visit to the magnificent Scandinavian inspired art-deco City Hall, unveiled at the time of his guidebook.

Michael Portillo is in East Anglia on the last leg of his rail journey through 1930s Britain. He begins in Attleborough in Norfolk, at the headquarters of an international horse welfare organization which was established in the late 1920s and learns about the charity's pioneering founder.Crossing the Fens, Michael's next stop is the cathedral city of Peterborough, where he visits a tidal defence barrier built in the 1930s, which helped save the city from flooding.Heading north into Lincolnshire, Michael crosses the point at which The Mallard broke the speed record for a steam powered locomotive in 1938. At the coastal resort of Skegness, he visits the first all-inclusive, self-contained holiday camp which became a household name in Britain. Here Michael swaps his green blazer for a red one!Michael's journey culminates at RAF Coningsby – an aerodrome which was conceived as storm clouds gathered across the Channel. Michael explores iconic aircraft from the Second World War, before being treated to a dazzling display featuring the RAF's latest combat aircraft.

Michael Portillo strikes out on another series of railway journeys, starting with a tour of the Home Counties and beyond in the city of dreaming spires, Oxford.

Michael Portillo continues his travels through England's Home Counties at Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, where he discovers the legacy of a German Jewish doctor who fled the Nazis.

Michael Portillo heads for leafy Hatch End, where he investigates an illustrator whose work was so popular in the 1920s and 30s that his name entered the English dictionary.

Michael Portillo resumes his tour of the Home Counties in the picturesque and historic county town of Guildford.

Michael is heading for Farnborough, Hampshire, famous today for its airshow and home to what was then the Royal Aircraft Establishment.

Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo explores interwar East Anglia. Starting at Sutton Hoo, he visits the experimental Summerhill School and learns about the Kindertransport refugees.

Michael Portillo continues his Bradshaw's-inspired journey through East Anglia, where he discovers the Essex origins of the BBC and joins the Women's Land Army to pick damsons at Tiptree.

Michael's Bradshaw travels resume in leafy Hertfordshire, where he attempts a canoe slalom course, visits the estate of Dame Barbara Cartland and hears the shocking story of the R101 airship.

Steered by his Bradshaw's guide, Michael Portillo heads for the Hertfordshire village of Perry Green to learn about Henry Moore became one of the defining artists of British modernism.

Michael Portillo is in Suffolk on the last leg of his 1930s Bradshaw's inspired tour of East Anglia, visiting the racecourse at Newmarket and the Roman Catholic shrine at Walsingham.

Oh, Mr Porter, what could he do? Michael Portillo is in Crewe, a town steeped in railway history and immortalised in Victorian music hall, to investigate the making of the iconic cinema classic, The Night Mail during the 1930s.

Michael Portillo's 1930s Bradshaw's-inspired railway tour of North Wales takes him to a coast lined by magnificent castles and sweeping bays.

Michael Portillo continues his 1936 Bradshaw's-inspired railway tour of North Wales in the coastal city of Bangor before turning south from Llandudno Junction to travel the Conwy Valley Line to Betws y Coed, the gateway to Snowdonia.

In the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia, Michael Portillo reaches an abandoned mine, where in 1940 the wartime government sought sanctuary for the National Gallery's priceless art collection.

Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo travels from Aberystwyth into the Cambrian Mountains at Devil's Bridge and finishes in Newtown, Powys.Michael's 250-mile tour of North Wales draws to a close in style at the birthplace of the nation's first classical music festival, Gregynog Hall, near Newtown. Michael is intrigued to discover that its founders, sisters Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, used the fortune they inherited from their grandfather, a noted Welsh railway builder, to establish the country estate as a centre for art and music from 1933. In the glorious music room, a Welsh harpist helps to evoke the spirit of festivals past and present.

Michael Portillo experiences a terrifying ‘victory roll' in a World War II Spitfire, meets a biographer of A.A. Milne and lends a hand at the community-owned Plaw Hatch Farm.

Michael visits the village of Ditchling, once the home of a community of Catholic artists, before heading to Bexhill-on-Sea to learn about the role of ARP wardens during the war.

Michael Portillo follows his 1930s Bradshaw's guide to the unspoilt East Sussex port of Rye, where he learns about the loss of a generation of lifeboatmen in 1928 and explores a wartime pillbox.

Michael heads to the splendid Walmer Castle, home during the 1920s to a Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Lord Beauchamp, whose openly homosexual lifestyle led to his exile from the country.

Armed with his interwar copy of Bradshaw's Guide to the Railways, Michael reaches the Kent seaside resort of Herne Bay, where he learns about a pioneering aviatrix.

Michael continues his journeys in greater London, beginning on its southeastern fringe in the village of Chislehurst and ending up in Kennington to learn about the childhood of Charlie Chaplin.

Michael continues his travels through the capital in the heart of London's East End. He begins in Hackney Wick, which today is transformed from the time of his 1930s Bradshaw's guide

Michael's rail tour of London continues in Hampstead, where Sigmund Freud found refuge from the Nazis. He ends up in Finsbury to learn about the influence of Russian emigre Berthold Lubetkin.

Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw's guide, Michael is in London, where he tracks the River Thames from east to west. Starting in Dagenham, he ends up at the iconic Battersea Power Station.

Michael discovers the origins of Harry Beck's iconic map of the Underground, learns about a shocking surrealist show in 1930s Piccadilly and explores the headquarters of Churchill's war cabinet.

Michael Portillo strikes out to explore the Britain of his youth, starting at Preston's Fulwood Barracks and heading across to Bury Bolton Street station in Greater Manchester.

Michael's journey through north west England from Preston to Hebden Bridge reaches Greater Manchester, where Michael celebrates new beginnings for the nation in the years after the Second World War.

Greater Manchester's Metrolink tram delivers Michael to the former cotton town of Oldham. He heads across to Wakefield and the striking postwar sculptures of Barbara Hepworth.

From Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Michael visits the National Coal Mining Museum for England at Caphouse Colliery. He heads across to Leeds to investigate the origins of the Leeds West Indian Carnival.

Michael Portillo continues his postwar exploration of north west England in Bradford, Shipley and Hebden Bridge.

Michael Portillo travels through the Britain of his youth from London's Docklands and East End to the ‘city within a city', the Barbican.

Michael Portillo continues his railway exploration of the post-war Britain of his youth on a journey from London to Cambridge, starting at South Bank.

Michael Portillo ventures deep underground onto London's newest railway: the Elizabeth Line. He travels across London before transferring to the Epping Ongar Heritage Railway.

Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, starting on the seafront of Felixstowe and finishing in the plate glass campus of the University of East Anglia.

Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period, heading from RAF Lakenheath to the city of Cambridge.

Michael Portillo explores the postwar Britain of his youth on a railway journey from the Midlands to the West Country.Beginning in Derby's famous 19th-century railway works, Michael hears how the Victorian sheds now house some of the most up to date assembly lines in Britain for building electric trains. In Leicester, Michael looks back to the early 1970s, when around 10,000 Asians arrived in the city after being expelled from Uganda by the dictator Idi Amin.On the outskirts of the city, Michael discovers a factory where, shortly after the Second World War, an entrepreneurial butcher turned his hand to something completely different - with the company he founded, Walkers, now producing 11 million bags of crisps a day. And from Hinkley Station, Michael heads for Stoney Cove, where a submerged quarry proved an ideal place to train divers in the 60s and 70s. 

In Coventry, Michael recalls the destruction by the German Luftwaffe of the city's gothic cathedral in November 1940. He hears how architect Basil Spence won a competition to build it anew and tours the breathtakingly modernist concrete structure built alongside the medieval ruin. And from the city's recently redeveloped station, he heads to the factory of the London Electric Vehicle Company, manufacturers of the iconic London taxi.Heading south to Royal Leamington Spa, Michael visits the Guide Dogs for the Blind National Centre, established in the town in 1941. Michael learns how the organisation was founded and how dogs are bred today. 

Michael Portillo's railway journey reaches the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, where work is underway on a section of the biggest project of new railway infrastructure in Britain for a hundred years: HS2.In the Tudor town of Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare, Michael visits the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, home since 1961 to the Royal Shakespeare Company.In Birmingham, Michael recalls the redevelopment of the whole city centre during the 1960s and the arrival of black and Asian communities in areas where he once tried to enter parliament. In the Prince of Wales pub in Handsworth, he investigates the fusion of Asian and British cultural influences which produced modern Bhangra music.Michael finishes this leg of his railway journey in the leafy suburb of Moseley, where in order to combat the housing shortage after the Second World War, prefabricated houses were put up - and, in some cases, remain to this day. 

At the African and Caribbean Heritage Centre in Wolverhampton, Michael finds out about the impact of Enoch Powell's 1968 speech on immigration in Wolverhampton and across the nation. In Kidderminster, he discovers the site of a secret wartime enterprise: a subterranean world of shafts, workshops and offices known as the Drakelow Tunnels.In the cathedral city of Worcester, Michael joins pupils of King's Hawford School to hear about their chosen sport, pigeon racing. The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway transports Michael back to the 1950s and on to Cheltenham, on the edge of the Cotswolds, where the town's splendid jazz festival is gearing up for its 25th anniversary. 

Michael Portillo is on the last leg of his railway journey from the train-building city of Derby to the aircraft manufacturing base of Filton. From Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, he heads to the fairy-tale castle of Eastnor at the foot of the Malvern Hills.At a factory in Coleford in the Forest of Dean, Michael recalls his childhood screen debut in an advertisement for a fruity cordial and discovers it remains popular today. At Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, Michael heads for the wetlands of the Severn Estuary, where the postwar conservation movement in Britain began with the opening of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.Michael's last stop is Filton, where he investigates the centre of Britain's postwar aviation industry and the manufacturing base for the fastest passenger plane on earth, Concorde. 

Beginning at London Marylebone, the last great Victorian railway terminus to be built in the capital, Michael Portillo embarks on a postwar exploration of Britain's southern counties.

Michael Portillo joins Navy Wings pilots for a spectacular close formation flight in the skies over Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton and visits the magnificent Elizabethan mansion of Longleat.

Michael Portillo reaches England's south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain, beginning on the steam-powered Swanage Railway in Dorset.

Michael Portillo reaches Havant, where the Scalextric factory was located, and Haslemere, the surprise birthplace of a musical phenomenon – the plastic recorder.

Michael goes on a tour around Heathrow Airport, taking an eerie walk around the mothballed Terminal 1 building and ending up atop the iconic 87.5 metre control tower.

Michael Portillo boards the West Highland Line to begin a railway journey across Scotland's central belt, from the Arrochar Alps to the Loch of the Lowes.

At the home of Scottish football, Glasgow's Hampden Park stadium, Michael admires the oldest football trophy in the world and hears how the 'passing game' was born there.

Michael Portillo continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure, this time from Glasgow to the capital, Edinburgh.

At the former Midlothian mining village of Newtongrange, Michael meets the son of a miner whose name loomed large in the disputes of the 1970s and 1980s, 'Red' Mick McGahey.

Michael's rail journey through post-war Scotland takes him over the River Tay to Dundee on the trail of Joseph McKenzie, the father of modern Scottish photography.

Michael Portillo twists and shouts through postwar Liverpool, arriving in the city where the 60s burst into life to find the strikingly contemporary concrete and glass Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, inaugurated in 1967. In the Georgian Hope Street Quarter, Michael visits the former home of Adrian Henri, a prolific artist and poet who was at the heart of the Mersey scene.At Jodrell Bank, Michael recalls the excitement of postwar space exploration and hears how physicist Sir Bernard Lovell's revolutionary research into meteors led to the construction of one of the biggest radio telescopes in the world. At Uttoxeter, Michael discovers how, in 1945, a young engineer made a trailer out of wartime surplus material, including wheels and tyres from American army jeeps and scrap steel from old air-raid shelters. 

Michael Portillo reaches the jet age in the Derby suburb of Peartree, where he tours the engineering colossus Rolls-Royce. In Derby city centre, Michael is on the trail of little-known modernist sculptor Ronald Pope, admiring two of his works and discovering how Pope began his working life as an engineer at Rolls-Royce.The chance to catapult a model train along a 150-metre-long track into a purpose-built wind tunnel takes Michael to Derby's Railway Technical Centre, founded in 1967 and once the largest railway research complex in the world. Michael's last stop is Nottingham, where he finds one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world, Raleigh, and discovers how a bold, new idea became a craze. 

Michael Portillo's postwar journey from Merseyside to Teesside resumes at Brayford Pool in Lincoln, where England's oldest canal, the Fossdyke, meets the city of Lincoln.The larger-than-life figure of one of Britain's most celebrated poets, Philip Larkin, rushing towards the platform at Hull Paragon Station leads Michael to investigate his life and work. And alongside the Humber estuary, Michael recalls the politics behind the construction of the suspension bridge before making his way to York, one of the host cities for the Festival of Britain in 1951. 

Michael Portillo's postwar exploration of Merseyside to Teesside finds him in York, a paradise for rail enthusiasts. In the company of some of the most famous locomotives ever built, he recalls the controversy surrounding their relocation from London to a freight depot in York.Michael crosses the magnificent Knaresborough viaduct, with its castellated walls and four beautiful arches over the River Nidd, to reach the spa town of Harrogate. On the edge of the elegant town, Michael discovers the gardens at Harlow Carr and learns how they opened in 1950 to test growing conditions for plants in northern climes.Across town, Michael checks into the headquarters of Yorkshire Tea. And his last destination on this leg of his journey is a bog near Skipton. In the 'gateway to the Dales', he joins members of Yorkshire Peat Partnership to find out what makes a bog. 

Michael Portillo confronts a detachment of Gurkhas, produces a fine heritage cheese and discovers a monster cracker that is key to making plastic, before ending his postwar journey from Merseyside to Teesside in a recreated 1950s street, where childhood memories are rekindled in the Beamish Museum hairdresser. 

Michael Portillo takes to the rails to explore one of Britain's oldest surviving landscapes, the woods and pasture of the Weald in south east England.

Michael Portillo's rail exploration of the historic wooded region of south east England, known as the Weald, continues from Tonbridge, at the heart of the area's rail network.

Michael Portillo's railway tour of the Weald reaches the spectacular Surrey countryside, where he finds a surprising connection to the darker reaches of the universe.

Michael Portillo's rail exploration of the spectacular countryside of the Weald in Surrey, Sussex and Kent continues - this time, aboard the Gatwick Express train.

Michael Portillo's railway tour of the green and pleasant landscape between the North and South Downs, known as the Weald, nears its conclusion.

Michael Portillo begins a railway tour of the spectacular border counties of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire, starting in the stunning Lake District National Park.

Michael Portillo's railway tour continues as he travels along the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line. He visits an iron ore mine turned into an arts centre and discovers the cradle of Quakerism.

Michael Portillo's railway journey through Cumbria and Dumfriesshire heads to the hills as he follows in the footsteps of the Lakeland poets.

Michael Portillo's railway journey through Cumbria and Dumfriesshire takes him to the rolling countryside around Aspatria to meet a couple who swapped their old life for organic dairy farming.

Michael concludes his journey from Cumbria to Dumfriesshire by crossing the Solway Firth into Scotland, where he visits the beautifully preserved last home of Scotland's greatest poet, Robert Burns.

Michael Portillo re-enacts the Battle of Shrewsbury, explores the town's beautiful Gothic cathedral and rides the Telford Steam Railway's flagship locomotive.

Michael Portillo is in Ironbridge Gorge on the River Severn, a hotbed of 18th-century innovation which features the world's first coke blast iron furnace

Michael Portillo boards a barge on the Dudley Canal, discovers an ancient seabed and explores racial tension in 1960s Smethwick.

Arriving in Birmingham, Michael Portillo heads to Curzon Street for a tour of the HS2 terminus still under construction. In the Newtown area, he visits the oldest private manufacturing firm in the UK.

On the final leg of his Midlands tour, Michael Portillo travels to Solihull, the home of iconic British brand Land Rover. Later, he visits the childhood neighbourhood of JRR Tolkien.

Michael Portillo embarks on a journey across Essex. He heads to the ancient woodland of Epping Forest and learns of Audley End House's role as a secret wartime military school.

Michael's exploration of Essex continues in Romford, where he visits a state-of-the-art rail operating centre. On the River Blackwater, he visits the Ross Revenge, home of Radio Caroline.

Michael's exploration of Essex reaches Chelmsford, where the city's bishop relates her story of escape from Iran after the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Arriving in the Essex market town of Witham, Michael heads into the countryside to visit one of the county's great country houses, Terling Place.

Michael's exploration of Essex is drawing to a close. He visits Colchester, which was first mentioned in AD77 and proudly claims to be Britain's oldest recorded town.