
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 the violent geological history of volcanoes and colliding continents that shaped this breathtaking landscape. For an aerial view, he takes to the skies in a gyroplane - part plane, part helicopter.\n\nIn Ambleside, at the National School of Forestry, Michael meets the trainees aspiring to become qualified foresters, and a visit to the heritage Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway charts the region’s transformation from mining to tourism.\n\nFinally, Michael explores Sellafield, a key site in the UK’s nuclear history, and drives a train normally used to transport spent nuclear fuel across one of the largest private railway sidings in Europe.
Source: 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 ...
09-07-2026
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 ...
08-07-2026
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 ...
07-07-2026
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, ...
19-02-2026
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 ...
18-02-2026
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 ...
14-02-2026
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 ...
12-02-2026
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, ...
11-02-2026
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 ...
10-02-2026
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 ...
05-02-2026
BBC 2
Series 4: 22. Goes To Ireland - Charleville To Waterford
06-07-2015
BBC 2
Series 1 - Carlisle To Glasgow
Travel documentary. Michael Portillo meets the wild Border Reivers clansmen, witnesses a wedding in Gretna Green and visits a World War I munitions factory.
13-10-2014
BBC 2
Series 5 - Wokingham To Bradford-on-avon
On the third leg of his journey, Michael Portillo learns how demand from rail commuters fuelled the development of the modern printing press.
10-09-2014
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 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 ...
08-07-2026
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& ...
18-09-2024
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 ...
14-09-2025
BBC 2