In the same way that Coast became a staple of must-see TV, so Michael Portillo's ongoing exploration of British industrial and social history,cheap dvd s, interwoven with a train-based travelogue, has become a firm favourite in this household. I make no excuses for unashamedly enjoying each half-hour programme, which transport the viewer back-and-forth across the British Isles, zigzagging through time periods as much as geography.

In case you're somehow unfamiliar with the format (this is the third series, and they play pretty much constantly on the BBC), Michael Portillo follows a train route through town and city, using a Victorian railway guide - Bradshaw's - to seek out highlights and compare and contrast between then and now.
If you didn't like Mr Portillo's previous incarnation as a politician then don't be put off. He makes for an engaging and entertaining presenter; one who unashamedly displays his enthusiasm for railways and our industrial heritage. With each series he becomes more comfortable in the role, chatting with local historians and 'the man in the street' to deftly highlight significant moments of historical importance... and sometimes just to underline some weird moment of whimsy.
This series travels further than the previous two, barrelling beyond the English border to encompass Wales and Ireland. But it starts in the English heartland and follows the route of the old Great Eastern Line, from the coast at Great Yarmouth into the City of London. Each episode starts with a map and highlights to come, and then hops along the line in question, travelling on modern trains - making detours to visit heritage lines which often run restored trains. The railway content of each episode varies, however; the majority of each trip is more about the industrial revolution and how the railway played a pivotal role in Britain's development, which inevitable brings a tinge of pathos when we consider how little industry is left today,buy tv series dvds.
The programmes are not rose-tinted reviews, however, and don't shy away from covering the less than wonderful aspects of traditional industry. At their core lies a little boy's enthusiasm for great big mechanical things - so we experience with Portillo what it was like to operate a Victorian swing bridge, or navigate a WW2 plane using only Bradshaw's guide for directions.
The series weaves around the south coast and then to Wales, where inevitably we visit slate mines and steel works; travels to the Lake District and beyond - where we come bang up to date with a nuclear submarine - before crossing the water to the Isle of Man, and then onto Ireland for the final four episodes which include standing stone, the observatory at Armagh, a Victorian jail, the lions at Dublin zoo and finally arrive at Belfast docks, another crucial pivot-point of British industrial history.
There is also some content to please railway enthusiasts - like the 19th century rail works in Eastleigh, driving a steam train on the Watercress line. But the majority of each programme looks at the landscape and its people; at social and recent history which extends beyond the scope of the railway's tracks. We also get to see a lot of lovely hotels, and Portillo tucking in to some excellent meals - and the occasional odd local delicacy...

My only gripe about these programmes is that the format wastes around 5 minutes of each episode by repeating the extended introduction and details of what we're about to see, then ending with a trailer for the next show. This gets old very quickly - so it's useful when watching several episodes to hover over the remote control and fast-forward to the next one!
Apart from that, Series Three is as informative, quirky, educational and entertaining as its predecessors. And I'm thoroughly enjoying the most recent edition, too, when Portillo takes to the railways of the Continent.
This is one of those series which works on many levels: visually stimulating, full of snippets and factoids, amusing and informative. Light-hearted in its presentation, it deftly distils a broad span of material into bite-size chunks, with the Victorian railway network and a love of the British Isles at its heart. Well worth watching more than once.