Around the World by Train with Tony Robinson

On the first leg of Tony's journey, he explores Paris, Munich, Budapest and Istanbul by train. In Paris, Tony gets re-acquainted with an old friend, before heading to Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, and meeting up with a local historian in Budapest.

The Himalayan Mountain Railway is an engineering miracle originally built for transporting tea; a hot air balloon provides a view of the 2,500 temples of Burma; Tony crosses the Bay of Bengal to Burma, where his first stop is Mandalay.

Tony finds himself amid a Buddhist ceremony in the north of Thailand, before heading off on a sleeper train to Bangkok; in Malaysia, Tony sees echoes of British rule everywhere; in Kuala Lumpur, he witnesses a city full of wild contrasts.

Tony makes his way across the vast landscape of Australia by rail. Along the way, he visits an outback farm where herding is done by helicopter, and learns about the uncertain future of the Great Barrier Reef.

Tony explores the samurai of Kyushu, and the neon lights of Tokyo. Then, on the last leg of his journey through Japan, he takes the bullet train further north, emerging in the thick snow of Hakodate.

Tony starts his US rail journey in San Francisco, checking out a legendary local sandwich shop, becoming acquainted with the mayor of New Orleans, and discovering how the city has been rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina.