The first traveller in this seven-part series of adventures is comedian Victoria Wood who makes a round trip to the north of Britain by train from Crewe, taking in both the east and west coasts and fuelled by endless cups of tea. 

Celebrated African American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr explores his roots in a 2,000-mile trip to the Tanzanian bush village where he did voluntary work as an idealistic teenager. His wife and daughters accompany him, but they miss the trappings of their life back home.