TV Guide Yesterday Monday

Michael Portillo visits Cornwall's county town, Truro, heading to the historic estate of Trewithen, whose gardens were stocked from China by professional plant hunters commissioned by its owner. The Atlantic Coast branch line carries Michael north to Newquay, where he discovers a pioneering surfer and braves the waves on a belly board. In the nearby village of St Mawgan, Michael is introduced to the ancient Cornish sport of 'wrassling', which surged in popularity between the wars as part of a Cornish Celtic revival

Michael Portillo reaches Bodmin en route to Totnes, as he explores the West Country from St Ives to Salisbury Plain. Out on the rugged moor, Michael hears how the celebrated author Daphne du Maurier captivated readers between the wars with her tales of smuggling at the Jamaica Inn. In Devon, Michael takes the plunge at Plymouth's beautiful art deco Tinside Lido, while at Ivybridge, he boards a vehicle like no other to cross the causeway to Burgh Island, where a 1930s playboy built a splendid art deco party palace

Michael Portillo's exploration of the West Country continues in south Devon. He arrives in Paignton to investigate an extraordinarily high murder rate in the literature of the 1930s. The Dartmouth Steam Railway conveys him in style to the beautiful home of Agatha Christie, in the company of her great-grandson, James Prichard

Michael Portillo crosses the county line from Devon into Somerset, seeing first-hand how willow farmers sought to overcome the challenge from the production of synthetic plastics during the 1930s and hearing how tourism has spread across the region, especially amongst the young. In Bath, Michael visits the former home of a refugee emperor, whose country was invaded by the Italian dictator Mussolini, and in whose name a religious movement began that now flourishes worldwide. Travelling east into Wiltshire, he reaches the largest training area of the British Army, Salisbury Plain

Fiona Bruce presents the show from Ulster Folk Museum near Belfast, where finds include a collection of dolls with eyes that change colour, an early Louis Vuitton trunk, an unusual black opal, and a pair of vintage Guinness signs. Mark Smith gets a rare chance to see medals awarded to participants in the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, while Fiona meets the Armagh Rhymers, a folk group who dress in wicker costumes and preserve the ancient tradition of storytelling known as mumming

Fiona Bruce returns to Woodhorn Museum in Northumberland, a former colliery that tells the story of coal mining and the miners' way of life in the north-east of England. Items brought in to be valued include a George Cross medal awarded to a miner who helped rescue the victims of a pit disaster, a portrait of a woman in Japanese dress, two tiny 'firing' glasses, and a car park sign that featured in the movie Get Carter