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: 1. Douglas To Port Erin
Michael Portillo embarks on another railway adventure across and beyond the United Kingdom, beginning on the self-governing Isle of Man – a paradise for rail lovers.\n\nHe ...
15-06-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 18. Oban To Staffa
From the fishing port and ferry terminal of Oban, Michael heads to the Hebridean archipelago. En route to the Isle of Mull, he watches eagerly for sea mammals in a stretch of wa ...
29-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 2: 3. Morecambe To Grange-over-sands
Michael Portillo continues his rail journey. He looks out across the vast and beautiful Morecambe Bay and joins one of the town’s last shrimpers to learn how potted shrimp ...
26-06-2023
BBC 2
Series 1: 3. Stirling To East Neuk
Michael Portillo begins this leg of his Scottish railway journey in the beautiful medieval city of Stirling. Michael learns it was a strategic city, situated where the Lowlands ...
08-05-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: 13. Morpeth To Amble
Michael Portillo explores the wild and rugged coastline of Northumberland by rail. He begins today in Morpeth, where he finds a historic collection of Northumbrian bagpipes and ...
22-05-2024
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: 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 1: 24. Carmarthen To Pembroke
Michael Portillo travels the breathtaking rural coastline of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire in south Wales.\n\nFrom Carmarthen Bay, he tracks up the estuary and River Towy to ...
06-06-2024
BBC 2
Series 1: 25. Milford Haven To Fishguard
On the final leg of his rail journey along Wales's southern coastline, Michael Portillo reaches the country's most westerly station. At Milford Haven, Michael learns from the ha ...
07-06-2024
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