Isn't Michael Portillo adorable as a TV presenter?

[Beachtastic]

I grew up with the caricatures of him in Spitting Image and Private Eye, and could easily have written him off as a joke. So I'm glad he got to produce his fabulous train programmes - one of the few things my mum could watch with pleasure. Now that she's gone, I find myself watching his series again with great nostalgia and affection - not just thinking back to shared moments with her, but also pure appreciation of him!

The way he sails serenely across railway platforms, with that slow steam-ship upright gait... his lovely rosy, cheerful face... his bright jackets and trousers... the valiant way he pronounces alien names (quite convincingly, to my ear)... his genuine interest in people from all walks of life... his ability to make dull subjects fascinating... his absolute lack of ego: he really doesn't mind having a go at absolutely anything, not caring if he looks a chump (which means he never does)!

OMG!!!!! I didn't know about that.

I just looked up the dates and locations... nothing anywhere near me 😞

(...but perhaps just as well, I'd be polishing that crate in anticipation!)

Oh no, this is just the kind of comment I was fearing! 🫣

I'll just tell myself you made it all up 🤡

We love the way he says JAPAN at the start of each episode
Paired with him strolling straight backed off a train .
Love him.

I always have him on my fantasy dinner party list along with David Attenborough, Juan Martin Del Potro and Gael Fickou , haven’t decided on the other places yet 😂

Come on … he’s worth travelling for, surely!

What tour, when? How can I get tickets??

I loved watching him on This Week, sitting on that tiny loveseat with Diane Abbott. They had great chemistry.

My company hired him as a speaker around 25 years ago in Paris and I sat opposite him at dinner afterwards. He was totally lovely and charming and I have always watched his programmes thinking I’ve eaten snails with you!

Here you go

www.fane.co.uk/michael-portillo

Gosh! The one near me is all but sold out. Pricey, too

I know exactly what the OP means. There’s something oddly comforting and reassuring about his programmes. They’re one of the few travel shows that don’t feel loud, rushed or overproduced.
I think a big part of it is that he seems genuinely curious about people and places rather than trying to dominate every scene. He lets ordinary people speak and never comes across as patronising.
Also agree with the comments about him being willing to laugh at himself. That’s surprisingly rare in public figures these days and probably why people warmed to him so much after politics.
And yes — the colourful jackets have somehow become part of the whole experience now 😄

Love him speaking fluent Spanish!

When he was still an MP he did a programme where he went to live in a very poor household for a week to take the place of the mum. An early wife swap type programme! He was so nice, everyone was surprised. I remember he let the teenagers have a party and he went shopping for pizzas and was sitting watching proceedings smiling and trying to get them to eat the banana trifle he'd made.
Edit- sorry, didn't realise someone has already mentioned this.

The only thing that gives me pause is that he was so comprehensively vile as a politician. As a PP said, it is like two different people.

He hasn’t actually had a personality transplant or blow to the head, so either the vile persona was an act, or the bonhomie is an act. Pretending to be an absolute cunt to everyone around you is no better than pretending to be lovely when you are secretly a cunt.

ROFL 🤣🤣

Thanks, OP - I'm now seriously tempted to spend £50 per head to see Michael Portillo on tour!

We thoroughly enjoyed his travels round Spain, very knowledgeable and friendly. Ditto with Portugal..

He's very knowledgeable re politics now he's out of it quite illuminating.

It was a fantastic programme, I often mention it on here. Thats what you call reality TV

I hated him as a politician of course, nothing better than a smarmy Tory to hate. But once out of office, of course they bloom dont they and he has as well

I like him very much and always watch his stuff. He's getting on a bit now though.

Compared to today's Tories though he was fairly reasonable. Last of the one nation Tories (or the baby of the one nations anyway)

I went to see him in parliament as a child (school trip) and he looked straight at me and winked at me!

No he's vile and repulsive

This is one of a few programs that has always stuck in my mind. I disliked him as a politician at the time, but he went up in my estimation after this.

Did they now. Happy together, were they. 😒

Oh wow

Snails, though!!! 🤔

But I would eat snails if he offered me some.