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.\n\nThe Atlantic Coast branch line carries Michael north to Newquay, where he discovers a pioneering surfer and braves the waves on a belly board.\n\nIn 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.\n\nAt 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.
Source: BBC 2
Series 10: 8. Larne To Dumfries
Michael Portillo continues his journey from Northern Ireland across the water to Scotland. Leaving from the seaport of Larne he reaches Stranraer and the Mull of Galloway, where ...
08-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 15. Northallerton To Chester-le-street
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 jour ...
05-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 14. York To Skipton
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 ...
26-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 10: 15. East Malling To Rye
Steered by his Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo is on the last leg of his journey from Warwick to Rye in East Sussex. In the orchards of East Malling, Kent, Michael disc ...
26-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 10: 14. Piccadilly Circus To Gravesend
Michael Portillo hits the West End to explore an exotic store, which was a favourite among Edwardian ladies. At Covent Garden’s Royal Ballet School he hears how in 1909 a ...
25-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 13. Lincoln To York
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 Lin ...
23-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 10: 13. Ealing Broadway To South Kensington
Michael Portillo reaches the capital on his rail journey from Warwick to Rye in East Sussex. In the Queen of the Suburbs, Ealing, he finds comedy at the home of British cinema a ...
20-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 12. Derby To Nottingham
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 littl ...
19-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 10: 12. Reading To Taplow
Armed with his Edwardian Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo picks up his rail journey from Warwick to Rye along the River Thames. In Reading, he traces the origins of educ ...
19-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 10: 11. Warwick To Radley
Michael Portillo embarks on a journey through Edwardian Britain, steered by his early twentieth century Bradshaw’s Guide. In Warwick’s medieval castle he uncovers th ...
18-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 - Llanwrst To Porthmadog
Michael explores the Conwy valley, stopping at Britain's first artists' colony at Betws-y-Coed and visiting the Victorian slate capital of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
02-06-2014
BBC 2
Series 2 - Llanberis To Holyhead
Michael Portillo takes a train up Mount Snowdon, witnesses the revival of Anglesey's sea salt industry and discovers how the railways transformed Holyhead.
02-06-2014
BBC 2
Series 1 - Settle To Garsdale
Travel documentary. Michael Portillo revisits the Settle-Carlisle line, explores the Ribblehead viaduct and learns about the navvies who helped to build it.
08-10-2014
BBC 2
Series 2 - Enfield To Cambridge
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.
14-05-2014
BBC 2
Series 15: 2. Chippenham To Yeovil
Michael Portillo joins Navy Wings pilots for a spectacular close formation flight in the skies over Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. He also visits the magnificent Elizabethan ...
16-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 - Aylesford To Tunbridge Wells
Michael explores the life of Victorian hop pickers and finds out about Maidstone's revolutionary paper industry.
17-06-2014
BBC 2
Series 15: 5. Wokingham To Heathrow
Michael begins the final leg of his journey at the Transport Research Laboratory in Wokingham, where they have been keeping Britain’s roads safe for 90 years. From Reading ...
28-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 5 - Brighton To Chichester
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.
24-09-2014
BBC 2
Series 9: 10. Plymouth To The Lizard
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 achieveme ...
22-02-2023
BBC 2