大象传媒

Every train ride begins with a whistle and Michael Portillo's new railway journey is no exception, blasting off from Birmingham's jewellery quarter to the sound of the Acme whistle, manufactured there since 1884.

A visit to the city's town hall reveals a magnificent organ and the location for a celebrated music festival. Travelling south to Kidderminster, Michael reports for duty at the post office, where he sorts the letters and discovers more about the great postal innovator Sir Rowland Hill, before heading out to deliver the Royal Mail.

19th-century quack doctors and their bogus remedies are exposed in Worcester, where Michael discovers the origins of the British Medical Association.