Great British Railway Journeys

Michael Portillo follows in the footsteps of King Edward VII, visiting a grand Norfolk estate where the monarch dallied with his mistress. He then takes the railway to Cromer, where he joins variety performers tap dancing on the pier. In Cambridge, he investigates the student days of the young Prince of Wales and investigates the novelist EM Forster, author of Howards End.

Michael Portillo explores an Edwardian utopia with a radical plan at its heart: the Garden City. He joins a garden party in Letchworth, then heads into the capital, where he discovers a favored haunt of King Edward VII and samples the monarch's favorite tipple, the King's Ginger. He then travels underground to explore London's oldest deep-level tube line, the Northern line.

With the modern British rail network now half the size of the Edwardian one, Michael Portillo is delighted to discover a railway renaissance in the town of Three Bridges. He visits West Croydon, where he uncovers a now forgotten, mixed-race composer with a familiar name. At Shoreham-by-Sea, he discovers that Edwardians in flying machines took off from the oldest airport in the United Kingdom.

Michael Portillo travels to Chichester, where he encounters an Edwardian motoring duo patronized by King Edward VII. Arriving in the seaside resort of Southsea, Michael heads for the majestic King's Theatre and treads the boards with a group of true thespians. He then hops on the Isle of Wight heritage railway bound for Osborne House, where the future King Edward VII spent much of his childhood.

Michael Portillo takes the railway to 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. In the New Forest, he searches out some unsung heroes of the First World War, the ponies who became war horses. And in Bournemouth, he investigates a very British institution: the beach hut.

Michael Portillo embarks on a railway adventure, from the coalfields of South Wales around the Bristol Channel to the tip of Cornwall. His first stop is Whitland where in the early 20th century, thrill-seekers gathered to indulge their need for speed. In Llanelli, Michael retraces the fateful events of a 1911 national rail strike and discovers the restored home of the poet Dylan Thomas.

Michael Portillo strikes gold at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, where after much frisking, he gains access to the inner vaults. At Cardiff Arms Park, he revisits the scene of a triumphant Welsh rugby victory over the fearsome All Blacks. 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.

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. And in the town of Clevedon, he visits a perfectly preserved cinema dating from 1912 and hears about the first film to be shown there, for survivors of the Titanic.

With purple, green, and yellow ribbons flying, Michael Portillo is Morris dancing in Stogumber, all in the name of fertility. He visits a celebrated Edwardian garden at Hestercombe and learns how to deadhead the roses. Then there’s a trip aboard the longest heritage railway line in England, before dining out in style at King Edward VII's coronation gala dinner at Bovey Castle.

Michael Portillo boldly goes to the moon by way of the Cornish Riviera Express, as he investigates the first radio signal to be sent across the Atlantic. In Plymouth, he uncovers what happened to surviving crew members of the most famous ocean liner in history, the Titanic. And at Fowey, he rediscovers a mysterious lost literary figure known as Q, who immortalized the town in his novels.

Michael Portillo takes the railway to the port of Hull, where he heads for the docks through which millions of migrants passed at the turn of the 20th century. At Cottingham, he 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.

Michael Portillo conducts important research in an historic tearoom, built by an Edwardian immigrant to the city of York. 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. At Bradford Grammar School, he hears the story of a talented Edwardian student who became a famous composer.

Michael Portillo is in Sheffield, where he discovers an enormous and beautifully preserved early 20th-century railway steam engine. Heading south into Nottinghamshire, he finds the birthplace of a man then called Bert, better known today as DH Lawrence. The author of Lady Chatterley's Lover opened the eyes of Edwardian society to the working class and challenged attitudes towards sexuality.

Michael Portillo's Edwardian railway guide takes him to the city of Liverpool and a trip down his own memory lane when he discovers a miniature tank engine made by Frank Hornby. Heading west to Wales, he visits the romantic ruined Gwrych Castle, then rides the waves in the mountains of Snowdonia, with a Welsh national surfing champion in a former aluminum smelting works.

In picturesque Snowdonia, Michael Portillo braves the fastest zip line in the world. Riding North Wales's splendid heritage railway, he visits the home of British mountaineering, Pen y Gwryd and its connection to Everest. He then meets the grandson of one of his political heroes, the Edwardian prime minister David Lloyd George, then heads to the impressive 13th-century fortress of Caernarfon.