Steered by his 1899 Appleton’s Guide, Michael Portillo strikes west across Manitoba into the province of Saskatchewan. High above the prairie at Riding Mountain, Michael discovers how a middle-class British boy from Hastings transformed himself into an influential indigenous naturalist called Grey Owl. \n\nDeep in the prairie, Michael finds a network of railways that once served the wheat farmers of Saskatchewan and learns how communities grew up around the grain elevators used to load the crop on to rail wagons. The Wheatland Express welcomes a new recruit to the sidings on the afternoon shift. \n\nAt Manitou Beach, Michael reaches the Dead Sea of Canada, a 14-mile lake three times saltier than the ocean. A Yellow Quill First Nations elder tells Michael about the healing properties of the water, and Michael tries it for himself. \n\nMichael digs into Canada’s indigenous past at the country’s longest-running archaeological excavation, discovers an Englishman, whose work earned him the title Canada’s Wheat King, and, in the cultural hub of Saskatoon, Michael learns how to make a traditional Saskatoon berry pie. \n\nNorth east of the South Saskatchewan River at Batoche, Michael reaches the battlefield, where in 1885 the French-speaking Métis people and their indigenous allies lost their struggle against Canadian control.
Source: BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 9. Chicago To Champaign, Illinois
16-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 5. Santa Fe, New Mexico, To The Grand Canyon
09-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 4. La Junta To Colorado Springs
05-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 2. Sedalia To St Joseph, Missouri
04-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 1. St Louis To Jefferson City, Missouri
02-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 3 Reversions: 8. New Haven To Plattsburgh
Armed with his Appleton's guide, Michael Portillo continues his rail journey through Connecticut and New England. He takes a crash course in rowing in New Haven, where college t ...
14-06-2018
BBC 2
Series 3: 7. Montreal, Quebec
Following a special 1899 Canadian edition of his Appleton's guide, Michael Portillo has left the United States and crossed the border to embark on the next leg of his rail journ ...
16-11-2022
BBC 2
Series 4: 3. Skagway To Vancouver
Michael Portillo embarks on a second spectacular rail journey through Alaska into Canada on the White Pass and Yukon railway.\n\nArriving in Skagway by seaplane from railwayless ...
21-09-2022
BBC 2
Series 4: 8. Sainte-anne-de-beaupre To Winnipeg
Michael Portillo explores the province of Quebec with his 19th-century Appleton’s Guide to Canada. He takes the fabulously scenic Charlevoix train along the north bank of ...
29-09-2022
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 1. St Louis To Jefferson City, Missouri
02-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 4: 10. Edmonton To Jasper
Michael Portillo continues west through the Canadian Prairie on his thousand-mile rail journey from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Jasper, Alberta. Following his 1899 Appleton’s g ...
11-10-2022
BBC 2