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. \n\nIn 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.
Source: BBC 2
Series 15: 1. Denham To Swindon
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 southe ...
09-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 15. Tewkesbury To Filton
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, ...
06-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 14. Wolverhampton To Cheltenham
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 na ...
05-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 13. Long Itchington To Moseley
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 infrastruct ...
04-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 12. Coventry To Leamington Spa
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 ...
03-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 11. Derby To Hinckley
Michael Portillo explores the postwar Britain of his youth on a railway journey from the Midlands to the West Country.\n\nBeginning in Derby's famous 19th-century railway works, ...
02-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 10. Brandon To Cambridge
Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period. At RAF Lakenheath, he discovers a slice of America dropped into the Britis ...
30-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 9. Felixstowe To Norwich
Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, beginning with the seafront at Felixstowe, where in January 1953, the town was engulfed in the worst floo ...
29-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 8. Paddington To Ongar
Michael Portillo ventures deep underground onto London’s newest railway: the Elizabeth Line. Emerging into the sunshine in Bedford Square, he recalls the choking smogs whi ...
28-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 7. Waterloo To Regent's Park
Michael Portillo continues his railway exploration of the post-war Britain of his youth on a journey from London to Cambridge. \n\nHe begins on the capital’s South Bank, ...
27-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 10. Dundee To Loch Of The Lowes
Michael’s rail journey through postwar Scotland takes him over the River Tay to Dundee on the trail of Joseph McKenzie, the father of modern Scottish photography.\n\nIn Pe ...
12-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 8. Shawlands To Livingston
Michael Portillo continues his postwar Scottish railway adventure, this time from Glasgow to the capital, Edinburgh.\n\nAt Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Michael joins a women& ...
06-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 13. Long Itchington To Moseley
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 infrastruct ...
04-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 7. Waterloo To Regent's Park
Michael Portillo continues his railway exploration of the post-war Britain of his youth on a journey from London to Cambridge. \n\nHe begins on the capital’s South Bank, ...
27-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 9. Felixstowe To Norwich
Michael Portillo continues his rail exploration of the east of England, beginning with the seafront at Felixstowe, where in January 1953, the town was engulfed in the worst floo ...
29-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 10. Brandon To Cambridge
Michael Portillo completes his railway journey through the east of England during the post-war period. At RAF Lakenheath, he discovers a slice of America dropped into the Britis ...
30-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 15. Tewkesbury To Filton
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, ...
06-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 15: 3. Swanage To Portchester
Michael Portillo reaches England’s south coast to continue his exploration of postwar Britain. He begins in Dorset on the Swanage Railway, riding a glorious 1940s steam lo ...
20-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 14: 2. Urmston To New Islington
Michael Portillo’s railway journey through north west England from Preston to Hebden Bridge reaches Greater Manchester, where Michael celebrates new beginnings for the nat ...
20-08-2024
BBC 2