Catch up TV

Series 1: 1. Halifax

Michael Portillo begins a new journey on the tracks of the ocean line to explore Canada's maritime provinces, en route to Quebec City. Clutching his 1899 Appleton's Guide to Canada, Michael begins in the Atlantic port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he discovers an 18th-century British hilltop citadel, manned at the time of his guide by the 78th Highland Regiment.\n\nMichael joins the men who recreate the roles of those Scottish soldiers today. At the mercy of the young Sergeant Major, Michael learns the drill in kilt and sporran. Michael follows his Appleton's to a vast Victorian dry dock, still in use today by shipbuilders for the Royal Canadian Navy and finds out what it takes to build a state of the art Arctic Patrol vessel. He learns of a catastrophic explosion in Halifax harbour in 1917, which wiped out the north of the city, killing 2,000 people and leaving 25,000 homeless and hears about a special bond this created between Halifax and Boston, MA, in the United States.\n\nFormer residents of an African Canadian community rent in two by the railway tell Michael of their struggle for redress. And Michael discovers a 'marine railway' - a first for him - as he paddles his kayak along the Shubenacadie Canal. On Banook Lake, Michael joins 15 'warriors' who are preparing for battle in a war canoe.

Source: BBC 2