Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Handbook to the Chief Cities of the World, Michael embarks on six new railway journeys across spectacular Australia.
Social & External
The people behind it
Michael Portillo
Self - Presenter
Miriam Margolyes is back on the road, heading west along the bottom of Australia, to understand what the Fair Go means in Australia today and how it is playing out in the diverse lives of her fellow citizens.
This landmark aerial series will focus on The Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, Western Australia, and Sydney and New South Wales. Beyond the breath-taking scenery and dramatic landscape, the series will also focus on human activity, whether it’s an indigenous dance ceremony, tourists swimming with whales or a camel road train across the desert.
From the Great War onwards, combining the stories of veterans and their families, with commentary from leading academics and experts. A thought-provoking exploration of one of the most important icons in Australian life.
The ABC Of... an interview series, revisits the pasts of famous Australians delving deep to uncover hidden archival gems, exploring how they changed Australia and how Australia changed them.
Railway adventures across Australia follows the exploits of Scott McGregor on his quest to find the famous, unusual and unique trains and stories at the end of the line.
Zoologist Jack Randall journeys into Australia's Outback to encounter extraordinary wildlife.
Long-running travel programme
The history of the Labor Party in government in Australia from 1983 to 1993 under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. The series is told entirely through the eyes of all the major players in government and the bureaucracy, including Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.
A unique team of adventurous divers and underwater filmmakers are joined by expert maritime archaeologists on the hunt for long-lost shipwreck secrets along the vast coast of Western Australia. Led by an obsessed pirate captain, the missions combine new evidence and archival research in an all-out adventure into the mysterious past in one of the most stunning places on Earth.
Bert Taylor travels around Australia's vast countryside.
The Earth’s continents are instantly recognizable. These iconic landmasses seem permanent and unchanging, yet they are merely the wreckage of a much larger long-lost supercontinent – Pangaea. In this stunning four part series Professor Iain Stewart uncovers the evidence for this ancient past. He reveals how the world around us is full of clues – in the rocks, the landscapes and even the animals. All of which tell us how the land we live on was created.
This 3-part docuseries tells the remarkable story of Australia's democratic system. Annabel Crabb unearths the individuals and stories behind the features that combine to make Australian democracy globally unique.
Tells the inside story of the challenges the Lebanese Australian community has faced in Australia and how they have fought to overcome them. This landmark documentary series hears from community leaders, police, families and individuals, as they combine to tell the compelling and dramatic story of a proud and resilient community, under intense pressure and scrutiny. The story begins in the 1970s when large numbers of Lebanese migrants flooded into Australia. Many were Muslim, most were traumatised by civil war, all were desperate to build a better future. Over the coming decades, these new Australians struggled to establish a new life in their adopted country.
History is taking to the seas and walking in the footsteps of Captain James Cook. 250 years after Cook began his epic exploration of the Pacific, Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, The Piano) journeys in his wake uncovering stories that resonate from those times on both sides of the beach. Sam begins with a disclaimer – he is merely an actor – but the story of Cook, and the impact he has had on the Pacific in the 250 years since his first voyage, has always fascinated him.
There are more than ten thousand monuments across the country that honour the war dead . But what of the bloody battles fought on our home soil, in our longest-running war that established the Australian nation?
One of Australia's favourite comedians Judith Lucy, is out to discover where women are at in modern Australia and what it means to men - talking to people from all walks of life from all over the country.
Australia: The Story of Us is an extraordinary journey through the people, places and events that have shaped Australia, from the first footprints on our continent to the present day. Astounding visual sequences, amazing CGI and dramatic re-enactments bring these stories to life and show how we came to be the country we are today.
Coast Australia follows renowned Scottish archaeologist and historian Neil Oliver on his very first trip to Australia, as he and a diverse group of co-hosts gather stories about our spectacular coastline: the history, the people, the archaeology, the geography and the marine life, investigating interesting and little known facts along the way. Oliver’s co-hosts, all experts in their field, are journalist and Australian arts and culture specialist Miriam Corowa, environmentalist Professor Tim Flannery, marine scientist Dr Emma Johnston, anthropologist Dr Xanthe Mallett and television presenter and landscape architect Brendan Moar.
Stephen Tompkinson's adventure begins in dramatic fashion when his maiden flight over South Australia's Flinders Ranges ends in a crash landing at 40 mph. But he presses on to the Barossa Valley, where a serene flight over the vineyards is followed by a far from calm cricket match against local winemakers - the outcome of which sends Stephen packing for Victoria and a spell on the mighty Murray River. Stephen's bid to win Australia’s biggest balloon competition continues. A childhood dream is fulfilled when he walks out onto the pitch of the Melbourne Cricket Ground during an Aussie Rules game - and trumped the following morning when his balloon flies through the ground's goalposts. His balloon truck gets a makeover and the city's Greek festival nearly ends in a diplomatic incident. Then heavy rain prevents him flying over Canberra - and to get back on track he risks a flight to 10,000 feet. Actor Stephen Tompkinson's attempt to win Australia's prestigious Canowindra Balloon Challenge concludes in this final episode. Stephen heads to Sydney, where he samples some of the city's culinary delights with MasterChef's Matt Preston, helps judge a drag competition, and receives some encouragement from the British High Commissioner to Australia. When the day of the race finally arrives, he meets his competitors at Canowindra. The teams have to hit three targets laid out over the countryside, but things start disastrously for Stephen when he misreads the wind and drifts off-course. Can he recover and win the challenge?
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.
Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
Actor Zac Efron journeys around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien in a travel show that explores healthy, sustainable ways to live.
Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.
Explores the experiences of James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who were both befriended and sexually abused by singer Michael Jackson, and the complicated feelings that led them both to confront their experiences.
Investigates a wide range of historically compelling topics and the mysteries surrounding each including the Titanic, D.B. Cooper, Roswell, John Wilkes Booth, and more. Fresh, new evidence and perspectives will be showcased, such as never-before-released documents, personal diaries and DNA evidence.
This docuseries captures the remarkable rise and unprecedented success of one of the most dominant and iconic franchises in professional sports. Featuring exclusive access to the Buss Family and probing, revealing interviews with players, coaches, and front office execs, this series chronicles this extraordinary story from the inside – told only by the people who lived it.
A rare look at warring animal clans battling for survival in a remote region of Africa, which is drying up after years of flood-soaked abundance.
Journalist and writer Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age. He attempts to prove that a climatic event 12,000 years ago wiped out an entire civilization far more sophisticated than the simple hunter-gatherers some archaeologists believe lived at that time.
A British genealogy documentary series in which celebrities trace their ancestry, discovering secrets and surprises from their past.
Revisit the epic heroes, villains and moments from across the MCU in preparation for the stories still to come. Each dynamic segment feeds directly into the upcoming series — setting the stage for future events. This series weaves together the many threads that constitute the unparalleled Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The remarkable and often perilous story of the journey through life. It is a story that unites each of us with every animal on the planet, because we all set out on this journey from the moment we are born. For animals there is just one goal in life – to continue their bloodline in the form of offspring. This series follows that journey through its six crucial stages: first steps, growing up, finding a home, gaining power, winning a mate and succeeding as a parent.
The fascinating stories of the families behind the food that built America, those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America's heart through its stomach, those who invented new technologies and helped win wars.
MegaStructures is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an educational look of varying depth into the construction, operation, and staffing of various structures or construction projects, but not ordinary construction products. Generally containing interviews with designers and project managers, it presents the problems of construction and the methodology or techniques used to overcome obstacles. In some cases this involved the development of new materials or products that are now in general use within the construction industry. MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world. Alternatively, a project may appear if it had an element of novelty or are a world first. This type of project is known as a Megaproject.
Morgan Freeman presents his quest in order to find how most religions perceive life after death, what different civilizations thought about the act of creation and other big questions that mankind has continuously asked.
Chris is on a mission to live better for longer. With the help of top scientists, he takes on six epic challenges to test mind and body to the max.
Follow the bruised bodies, soul-crushing fumbles, agonizing losses, and pure joy of three NFL quarterbacks during one season.
Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.