U and YESTERDAY

The programme looks at a mysterious group of rusting ships stranded in an arid desert, and a monstrous defensive line on the snow-covered peaks of the Italian Alps.

Michael Portillo experiences first-hand Italy's 'need for speed' in a Maserati sports car, and discovers how the leaning tower of Pisa was rescued from near collapse.

In Musselburgh, Michael Portillo gets a taste of life as a fishwife, before exploring Edinburgh where a popular 19th-century mode of transport is making a comeback.

Michael Portillo travels from Blackpool to Manchester unveiling a monument to railwaymen of the London and North Western Railway who died in the Great War.

Michael Portillo's journey to the North Sea continues and he investigates the Victorian scientist who invented modern atomic theory.

Michael starts his journey in Chapeltown, Sheffield, following what was once known as the North Country Continental service, and finishing in Doncaster.

Shopping from Home.

Michael Portillo travels from Gainsborough to Ely, along the way learning about a Victorian machine that changed shopping for ever and the poet Alfred Tennyson.

Michael Portillo embarks on the final leg of his journey following the route of the North Country Continental service, heading to Harwich, Essex.

Michael Portillo begins a journey across Ireland, starting in the port of Wexford, where he takes to the seas in a 100-year-old lifeboat.

At Trinity College, Dublin, Michael Portillo discovers one of Ireland's greatest treasures, and also explores the house and gardens of Powerscourt in County Wicklow.

A devastated cliff-top ruin, an extraordinary tall tower, a concrete structure stranded at sea and a heavy metal monster in a field all feature.

Hidden tunnels that saw a city prosper, a sunken wreck with a remarkable past, a concrete wartime dome and a mysterious cold war building all feature.

World War II as told by the late Laurence Olivier. Hear more about life on the British Home Front, a time of gas masks, digging for victory and evacuation.

On January 22nd 1944, two divisions land at the Italian port of Anzio in one of the easiest Allied amphibious assaults of the war.

Michael Portillo travels by train through Austria and the Czech Republic, beginning in the northern Austrian city of Linz, where Adolf Hitler lived as a boy.

Fiona Bruce presents from Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, where a collection of rare figures and dolls turns out to be a find of national importance.

Dave gets wind of a possible free lunch at the officers' mess when he heads off to collect a stylish Swedish Volvo P1800S from an RAF base in the Midlands.

Derek has sold everything from trucks to bicycles - but he can't remember the last time he auctioned off a two-seater plane.

Laurence Olivier narrates this 26-part series, a milestone in TV history. Germany's progress loses momentum as the tide of the war turns in favour of the Allies.

Omaha beach - a nightmare for advancing American troops: open ground, sustained fire, heavy casualties and no retreat. But the whole fate of D-Day hinged on Omaha succeeding.

Fiona Bruce presents from Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, where a collection of rare figures and dolls turns out to be a find of national importance.

Port Talbot to Pembrey Burry Port: Michael Portillo's coastal rail journey along the south coast of Wales reaches the town of Port Talbot.

Michael Portillo travels the rural coastline of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire in south Wales.

Derek goes to pick up a veteran 1904 Swift, there's an emotional farewell to a 1980s Bedford HA van, and a Toyota Corona finds a new home.

Derek gives the once-over to a Royale Formula Ford race car, and Paul is on a marathon trip to Teesside to pick up a 1953 MGYB, a Moggy Van and an '80s Yamaha 250RD motorbike.

Derek's search for the unusual lands him a 1947 Lea Francis that's half-made of wood. Paul heads for the countryside to pick up a Morris one tonne truck.

An abandoned prison beneath the water, a tunnel in the heart of a mountain, concrete towers hidden in the woods and a rusting coastal relic.