
Michael Portillo continues his postwar exploration of north west England in Bradford, Shipley and Hebden Bridge.\n\nIn Centenary Square in Bradford, Michael encounters Bradford’s literary giant JB Priestley, author of An Inspector Calls. In the Bradford Royal Infirmary, Michael traces the hospital's pioneering history of chemotherapy and learns how new drugs to impede the spread of cancer are being developed at Bradford’s Institute of Cancer Therapeutics. \n\nJust north of Bradford, at Shipley station, Michael discovers a nature reserve in the middle of a car park that's home to more than 14 species of butterfly and moth. And the Calder Valley Line delivers Michael to the pretty station at Hebden Bridge, once a mill town in decline but today popular with many same-sex couples.
Source: BBC 2
Series 16: 15. Solihull To Birmingham International
On the final leg of his Midlands tour, Michael Portillo travels to Solihull, the home of iconic British brand Land Rover. He discovers that their factory, now owned by Indian Ta ...
23-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 14. Birmingham New Street To Wednesbury
Arriving in Birmingham, Michael Portillo heads to Curzon Street for a tour of the HS2 terminus still under construction. He discovers that parts of the site’s 1838 station ...
22-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 13. Dudley To West Bromwich
Michael Portillo boards a barge on the Dudley Canal, built in 1775 as a vital transport link for the town’s coal and limestone mines. Travelling through the second-longest ...
21-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 12. Ironbridge To Coseley
Michael Portillo is in Ironbridge Gorge on the River Severn, where he discovers the Silicon Valley of the 18th century. Exploring this hotbed of industrial innovation, he takes ...
20-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 11. Shrewsbury To Telford
Sharp as an arrow and armed with a longbow, Michael Portillo re-enacts the Battle of Shrewsbury, fought at the Shropshire village of Battlefield in 1403. He hears how the rebel ...
19-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 10. Dumfries To Auchinleck
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 g ...
16-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 9. Aspatria To Carlisle
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 o ...
15-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 8. Maryport To Penrith
Michael Portillo’s railway journey through Cumbria and Dumfriesshire heads to the hills as he follows in the footsteps of the Lakeland poets. In Keswick, he retraces the a ...
14-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 7. St Bees To Grange-over-sands
Michael Portillo’s railway tour of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire continues as he travels along the scenic Cumbrian Coast Line. Just outside Egremont, he visits Florence Mine, ...
13-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 6. Windermere To Sellafield
Michael Portillo begins a railway tour of the spectacular border counties of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire, starting in the stunning Lake District National Park, where he discovers ...
12-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 5. Chichester To Amberley
Michael Portillo’s railway tour of the green and pleasant landscape between the North and South Downs, known as the Weald, nears its conclusion.\n\nNear Chichester, Michae ...
04-09-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 8. Maryport To Penrith
Michael Portillo’s railway journey through Cumbria and Dumfriesshire heads to the hills as he follows in the footsteps of the Lakeland poets. In Keswick, he retraces the a ...
14-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 6. Windermere To Sellafield
Michael Portillo begins a railway tour of the spectacular border counties of Cumbria and Dumfriesshire, starting in the stunning Lake District National Park, where he discovers ...
12-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 13. Dudley To West Bromwich
Michael Portillo boards a barge on the Dudley Canal, built in 1775 as a vital transport link for the town’s coal and limestone mines. Travelling through the second-longest ...
21-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 10. Dumfries To Auchinleck
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 g ...
16-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 12. Ironbridge To Coseley
Michael Portillo is in Ironbridge Gorge on the River Severn, where he discovers the Silicon Valley of the 18th century. Exploring this hotbed of industrial innovation, he takes ...
20-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 11. Shrewsbury To Telford
Sharp as an arrow and armed with a longbow, Michael Portillo re-enacts the Battle of Shrewsbury, fought at the Shropshire village of Battlefield in 1403. He hears how the rebel ...
19-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 16: 14. Birmingham New Street To Wednesbury
Arriving in Birmingham, Michael Portillo heads to Curzon Street for a tour of the HS2 terminus still under construction. He discovers that parts of the site’s 1838 station ...
22-10-2026
BBC 2
Series 12: 15. Aberystwyth To Newtown
Armed with his 1930s Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael travels from Aberystwyth into the Cambrian Mountains at Devil’s Bridge and finishes in Newtown, Powys.\n\nIn the elega ...
09-06-2025
BBC 2