The weekly journey is chosen to fit with a theme, either geographic, such as coast to coast, or historic. Then he takes the Blackpool Tramway to Fleetwood, where he learns of the origins of the Fisherman's Friend lozenge and is given a tour of the factory. Portillo samples the Victorian drink perry (a kind of pear cider), gets up close and personal with a pedigree Hereford bull, and visits the grandfather of all skyscrapers – the world's first iron-framed building in Shrewsbury. In December 2017 a local general practitioner and community health activist [12] [13] claimed that children in Morecambe were suffering from malnourishment and implied that cases of rickets had been observed as a consequence. He experiences Victorian entertainment, hears how the railways took Welsh textiles into even the most exclusive households and unleashes the power of a 19th-century engineering triumph.

Portillo sets off from Newcastle, finding out about the world's earliest swing bridge and its inventor William Armstrong.

He reflects on the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash of 1952 and visits a country estate in Tring, Hertfordshire, before alighting at Cheddington in Buckinghamshire, which is close to the scene of 1963's Great Train Robbery. He journeys through picturesque countryside to admire the raw power of nature at the magnificent and romantic Clyde Falls, which inspired William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and where Victorian ladies swooned. Portillo starts at Hampton Court Palace, where he is treated to a private tour of the Great Vine, the world's longest grapevine, before travelling to Esher Station to visit stately Claremont House, where tragic circumstances led directly to the birth of the Victorian era. He ends this journey at Victoria tube station, where he finds out about the massive makeover currently under way. On this [a] journey, Portillo crosses the Irish Sea to discover the rich railway history of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, following the unfurling 19th-century expansion of the tracks from Dublin to Derry.

He then investigates two new railway projects at Bicester, finds out about Victorian philanthropy in Bedford, and finishes in Luton, where he learns about the arts of the hat-maker. Portillo takes to the sea with the heroes of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, visits a stormy coastal railway, and has a close personal encounter with his boyhood hero. Portillo begins in the ruinous gardens at Aberglasney House near Llandeilo, and then rides in the driver's cab on the scenic Heart of Wales railway line. Now in Yorkshire, Portillo's first stop is Chapeltown for Wharncliffe Crags, where he learns about rock climbing and then climbs a crag himself.

On the final leg of his Irish journey, Portillo discovers historic jewellery with royal connections in Galway, meets a people's king and finds his voice with a traditional Irish singing group. Promoting creativity as a means of well-being, it serves as a non-profit welcome space for all ages and abilities. Portillo follows the tracks that fuelled the industrial revolution, from the Chilterns to west Wales.

Portillo makes apple juice in the Clyde Valley orchards, pays a thrilling visit to the top of the Forth Rail Bridge and relives his childhood memories in his grandparents' home town of Kirkcaldy. At the family home of Florence Nightingale in the New Forest, he finds out what motivated the Lady of the Lamp, before seizing the chance to drive the first motor car at Beaulieu. Travelling south to Kidderminster, he visits the Royal Mail sorting office and finds out about the great postal innovator Sir Rowland Hill.This is followed by a stop off at Marden Station to visit a village to learn about the role played by the piano in the Victorian home and then helps to tune a piano, before ending his journey at Knole House in Sevenoaks, seat of the Sackville-West family. In Pinner, he finds out about a Victorian domestic goddess and whips up a pint of her fanciest ice cream. Portillo finds out how Canterbury Cathedral was saved during the Baedeker raids of World War II, goes whelk fishing in Whitstable and explores the origins of a seaside swim in Margate. C. (known as 'the Shrimps') are the leading local football club and on 20 May 2007 won the Conference National playoffs to earn promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history. He begins in Barkingside, where Victorian philanthropist Thomas Barnardo made it his mission to transform the lives of destitute children, tries his hand at loading a container onto a pocket wagon at Tilbury Docks, and ends his trip in Rochester, where he encounters a host of familiar characters and explores a town that was an inspiration for many of Charles Dickens' works.