Michael Portillo's 19th-century Appleton's guidebook leads him to the Parker House Hotel, where in his best pinny, he whisks up a Boston cream pie.\n\nIn the fine dome atop Massachusetts General Hospital, where no-one could hear the screaming, Michael discovers the scene of grisly surgery, first made bearable in 1846 by a miraculous new substance. North of Boston, in Salem, Michael is caught up in a witch hunt. He gets a taste of the hysteria which gripped the town in the 17th century and how events were re-interpreted at the time of his guide.\n\nAnd in Concord, where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, Michael discovers the home of the celebrated author of the coming of age classic Little Women and hears the story behind the novel.
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: 19. Los Angeles To Laguna Beach
Michael Portillo strikes oil in the suburbs of Los Angeles, contemplates his navel in the orange groves of Riverside, makes a California Roll and paints a pretty picture in Lagu ...
07-12-2022
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 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
Series 2 Reversions: 5. Santa Fe, New Mexico, To The Grand Canyon
09-09-2024
BBC 2
Series 3 Reversions: 3. Berkeley To Santa Cruz
Following his Appleton's guide, Michael Portillo makes a trip to the jewel in the crown of America's National Parks, Yosemite, to behold its towering granite cliffs, its giant s ...
06-06-2018
BBC 2