Michael Portillo
Birthday: Born in 1953-05-26 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Deathday: Alive
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative politician. He was first elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in 1984.
TV Credits
The One Show
Character: Self
A topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One....
The Terry and Gaby Show
Character:
The Terry and Gaby Show was a daytime television show broadcast on Five on weekday mornings between June 2003 and April 2004, produced by Chris Evans' company UMTV. It was hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin. The opening titles featured Gaby dressed up like a movie star driven to the studio in a limo and walking on red carpet to the door. Meanwhile Terry, carrying a briefcase, rode a rickety old bicycle across London and parked it outside the back door before quietly entering the building thr...
Portillo: The Trouble with the Tories
Character: Presenter
Documentary series about the current crisis in the Conservative party....
Portillo: The Trouble with the Tories
Character: Narrator
Documentary series about the current crisis in the Conservative party....
This Week
Character: Self - Panelist
Andrew Neil, Michael Portillo and friends with late night political chat....
Natural World
Character:
Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed...
Great British Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains....
Coastal Devon & Cornwall with Michael Portillo
Character: Self - Host
Michael Portillo, a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician, begins a south-west coastal pilgrimage, travelling through Devon and Cornwall....
Portillo's State Secrets
Character: Self - Host
Michael Portillo takes a look through the national archives to discover different stories that have been hidden in previously classified documents....
Great Continental Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe, as he retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide....
Railways of the Great War with Michael Portillo
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo examines the role of the railways in World War I and travels through Britain and Europe uncovering stories from the Great War....
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Character: Presenter
From the sea lochs of Scotland to the Jurassic Coast of Dorset, seasoned train traveller Michael Portillo immerses himself in the magnificent scenery of the nation's coastal regions....
Portillo's Andalucia
Character: Presenter
Michael Portillo explores the region of Andalucia in southern Spain, visiting six of his favourite locations in the area....
This World
Character:
The series is mainly focused on social issues and current affairs stories around the world. International current affairs documentaries, replacing "Correspondent"....
Great American Railroad Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America, armed with Appleton's General Guide to the United States, published in 1879....
The Supersizers...
Character: Participant
Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins experience the food culture of years gone by....
Great Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. There were four series broadcast on BBC Two between 1980 and 1999, with the shorter series title being used for all but th...
The Pyrenees with Michael Portillo
Character: Self
Michael Portillo embark on an extraordinary voyage of self-discovery, exploring the dramatic mountain range that straddles the border between France and Spain, the Pyrenees. The four-part series is a real adventure for Michael as he walks a stretch of the 270 mile trail through the Pyrenees, from the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic coast in the West to the shores of the Mediterranean in the East....
Great Indian Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Guided by a century-old Bradshaw’s Handbook of Indian, Foreign and Colonial Travel, Michael Portillo embarks on a railway adventure across India and takes in the extraordinary variety of the Indian landscape....
Great Canadian Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo explores Canada, armed with his Appleton's Guidebook....
Great Alaskan Railroad Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo heads for the Last Frontier of the United States armed with his 1899 Appleton's Guide-Book to Alaska....
Michael Portillo's Long Weekends
Character: Presenter
Michael takes us to his favourite European cities....
Great Australian Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw’s Handbook to the Chief Cities of the World, Michael embarks on six new railway journeys across spectacular Australia....
Question Time
Character: Self - Panellist
This topical debate series based on Any Questions? typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer pre-selected questions put to them by a carefully selected audience....
Great Asian Railway Journeys
Character: Self - Presenter
Michael Portillo is in Southeast Asia, armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Handbook. It will lead him on a spectacular 2,500-mile railway adventure across six countries. He explores towering megacities and magnificent mosques....
Portillo's Empire Journey
Character:
Portillo tells the story of the former British Empire largely through the legacy of hidden buildings that played an important part in history....
Hawks and Doves: The Crown and Ireland's War of Independence
Character: Self
Michael Portillo charts the War of Independence in Ireland, following the journey from the Peace Conference in Versailles to the historic ceasefire in 1921....
Portillo's Hidden History of Britain
Character: Self - Host
Portillo's Hidden History of Britain sees former UK politician Michael Portillo investigating abandoned buildings around Britain....
Prague with Michael Portillo
Character: Presenter
Portillo explores the city’s stunning architecture, from its medieval roots to the modern era. He uncovers the stories behind some of Prague’s most iconic buildings and discovers how the city has been shaped by its rich history....
Parkinson
Character: Self
Michael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show....
Movie Credits
Portillo on Thatcher
Character: Self
Former cabinet minister Michael Portillo assesses the legacy and continued influence of Margaret Thatcher on the Conservative Party. He talks with former colleagues about the highs of the Thatcher years and the lows that followed for the Tories, speaking frankly about his own personal regrets and the damage Thatcher inflicted on the party in the wilderness years after John Major's premiership....
Trust Me - I'm a Politician
Character: Self
Last December's "Cheriegate" affair did little to abate the rampant public cynicism reserved for politicians - a mistrust evidenced in the turnout at the 2001 general election, which was the lowest for more than 80 years. In this documentary, Michael Cockerell talks to figures including Edwina Currie, Max Clifford, Geoffrey Robinson and Neil Hamilton in an effort to see if spin, sleaze and ministerial failure is to blame, or whether the media's sneering political coverage is most at fault....
Taking Sides: Britain and the Civil War
Character: Presenter
Michael Portillo returns with an authored documentary, that uses British state papers to shed fresh light on key events and personalities during the Civil War period in Ireland....
The Summer of Rave, 1989
Character: Self
In the final days of the yuppie decade, the summer of ’89 saw a new type of youth rebellion rip through the cultural landscape, with thousands of young people dancing at illegal Acid House parties in fields and aircraft hangars around the M25. Set against the backdrop of ten years of Thatcherism, it was a benign form of revolution, dubbed the Second Summer of Love – all the ravers wanted was the freedom to party… The rave scene, along with the drug Ecstasy, broke down social barriers and even fo...
Partition, 1921
Character: Presenter
Partition, 1921, tells the story of how Ireland came to be to be partitioned from the perspective of the British and unionist politicians who divided Ireland. Michael Portillo examines how this happened, unravelling a web of intrigue woven by the British ruling classes for whom the essential issue was defending Ulster...