Michael alights at Wareham to visit Dorset’s internationally renowned Jurassic Coast. Exploring the geology, he discovers black gold locked into its rocks and visits one of the county’s oldest oil fields. \n\nIn Swanage, Michael visits the pretty Victorian harbour before riding the magnificent Swanage heritage railway to Corfe Castle, the location for one of the most dramatic hilltop castle ruins in the country.\n\nIn Poole, at one of Dorset’s biggest employers, handmade cosmetics maker Lush, Michael is introduced to a phenomenon entirely new to him, the bath bomb. Heading back to the sea, Michael takes a stroll along the beach at Sandbanks, reputedly the home of the nation's most expensive coastal real estate, with local resident Harry Redknapp.\n\nMichael ends his journey on Brownsea Island. He learns of Mary Bonham-Christie, a controversial conservationist who rid the island of almost all its human residents to create a protected habitat for wildlife - which today includes the red squirrel.
Source: BBC 2
Series 3: 20. Wells-next-the-sea To The Wash
Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of the eastern reaches of England is drawing to a close. His travels today begin on the smallest public railway in the world, the Wells ...
13-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 19. West Runton To Burnham Market
The oldest and largest mammoth ever found in Britain was discovered by walkers on the beach at West Runton in Norfolk. Michael Portillo examines a replica of the smallest bone i ...
08-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 18. Lowestoft To Great Yarmouth
Michael Portillo’s East Anglian coastal railway journey takes him to the treacherous waters off the Norfolk coast, which have sunk many ships and cost many lives. Michael ...
07-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 17. Woodbridge To Southwold
Michael Portillo reaches the Deben estuary on his coastal railway journey around eastern England. At Woodbridge, he is plunged in at the deep end on a rafting challenge with the ...
07-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness
Michael Portillo embarks on a new railway journey around the coast of the east of England. He begins in the Thames estuary, where creeks separate Canvey Island from the mainland ...
02-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 15. Faversham To Chatham
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure zig-zagging the coasts of the English Channel and the Thames estuary nears its end on the north Kent coast. The pretty and historic to ...
01-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable
Michael Portillo’s railway exploration of the Channel coastline and Thames estuary via Calais has reached the Isle of Thanet. Flat and temperate, it is excellent terrain f ...
29-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 13. Dover To Margate
Michael Portillo’s railway adventure along the north and south coasts of the English Channel resumes in Dover, where he recalls the biggest evacuation in military history. ...
25-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 11. Eastbourne To Rye
Michael Portillo sets off on a new railway adventure to explore the twin shores of the English Channel and the estuaries of the Thames and Medway.\n\nAt Cuckmere Haven, he enjoy ...
24-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 12. Folkestone To Le Touquet
Michael Portillo travels through the longest undersea tunnel in the world on the Eurotunnel shuttle rail service from Folkestone to Calais.\n\nIn Calais, Michael is reminded tha ...
24-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 5. St Bees To Maryport
On the last leg of his railway journey around the north west coast of England, Michael meets a lifelong fan of Alfred Wainwright’s famous guidebooks and takes the first st ...
10-07-2023
BBC 2
Series 3: 4. St Mawes To Porthcurno
Michael reaches the pretty Cornish fishing village of St Mawes, today an exclusive holiday destination for connoisseurs of yachts, fine food and luxury hotels. Michael takes to ...
08-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 7. Whitby To Robin Hood's Bay
Michael Portillo continues his railway adventure at Whitby, where he explores the port’s shipbuilding and seafaring heritage.\n\nIn Grosmont, Michael boards the first stea ...
27-07-2023
BBC 2
Series 3: 8. Porthmadog To Anglesey
Michael Portillo steams through the glorious scenery of the Snowdonia National Park on one of Britain’s greatest heritage lines, the Welsh Highland Railway. Stopping off a ...
17-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 1. Axminster To Budleigh Salterton
Michael Portillo embarks on another journey exploring the shores of Britain. His first journey takes him from the magnificent Jurassic Coast to the rugged tip of the Lizard Peni ...
02-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 14. Birchington-on-sea To Whitstable
Michael Portillo’s railway exploration of the Channel coastline and Thames estuary via Calais has reached the Isle of Thanet. Flat and temperate, it is excellent terrain f ...
29-07-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 14. Carlingford To Dublin
Michael Portillo continues his railway journey along the Atlantic and Irish Sea coasts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.\n\nFrom Newry, he sets off to cross the b ...
27-09-2023
BBC 2
Series 2: 15. Dun Laoghaire To Rosslare
Michael Portillo begins the final leg of his railway journey, beginning in the harbour town of Dun Laoghaire. He joins a crew of geological surveyors to discover what lies benea ...
04-10-2023
BBC 2
Series 3: 16. Canvey Island To Wrabness
Michael Portillo embarks on a new railway journey around the coast of the east of England. He begins in the Thames estuary, where creeks separate Canvey Island from the mainland ...
02-08-2024
BBC 2
Series 3: 11. Eastbourne To Rye
Michael Portillo sets off on a new railway adventure to explore the twin shores of the English Channel and the estuaries of the Thames and Medway.\n\nAt Cuckmere Haven, he enjoy ...
24-07-2024
BBC 2