Michael Portillo embarks on two long haul railway journeys across Europe, across six episodes. The series opens with Michael Portillo, armed with his trusty 1913 Bradshaw\'s Continental Railway Guide, venturing east to the independent state of Ukraine, a land that was once part of the Russian empire. He starts his journey in the capital, Kiev, where he encounters mummified monks and two of the strongest women in the world. After a stop-off in the city of Lviv, he boards the night express to Odessa, where he finds a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, and rounds off this first leg of his journey by visiting the opera. In episode two Michael Portillo takes in Georgia and Azerbaijan as he journeys through the former Russian empire. He begins in the port of Batumi, discovers a surprise 19th-century tea plantation in the West Georgian countryside, visits a private museum dedicated to Joseph Stalin– the most infamous Georgian of all - and discovers that a Briton was the first to conquer the highest mountain in the Caucasus range. Arriving in Azerbaijan, he learns about its role in the 19th-century oil industry.   Release date: 30th April 2018 No. Discs: 1 DVD Cert E Running Time: 1hr 40