Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo explores Canada, armed with his Appleton's 1899 Guidebook.

Great American Railroad Journeys is a documentary television series on BBC Two hosted by Michael Portillo, who had done two documentaries series before this, Great British Railway Journeys and Great Continental Railway Journeys throughout Europe. This time, he travels to the United States to take his love of the railways to a new world, discovering things he was not aware of before about the origins of the country. The core of his travels take him from the northeast part of the country to Virginia.

Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic once more to ride the railroads of North America with his faithful Appleton's Guide to the United States. Amid breathtaking scenery, he encounters magnificent beasts, joins intrepid explorers and witnesses unique customs on an awesome 1,500-mile journey to recapture the excitement and promise of the 19th-century American Frontier.

Michael Portillo begins a new series of railway journeys through 1930s Britain, armed with an interwar Bradshaw's guide. He explores an unmistakably modern era of glamorous locomotives, cinema and dance halls but also a time of high unemployment and widespread poverty

Great British Railway Journeys is a BBC documentary series presented by Michael Portillo. It premiered in 2010 on BBC Two, and has returned each year for a total of eight series.

Michael Portillo heads for the Last Frontier of the United States armed with his 1899 Appleton's Guide-Book to Alaska. Written by an intrepid 19th-century female explorer, the book points Michael to 'sublime scenery' in the 49th state and fresh insight into the newly explored lives and customs of its inhabitants.

Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide.