Great Continental Railway Journeys

In the Batumi to Baku programme, Michael Portillo journeys across the former Russian Empire, taking in the landscapes of Georgia and Azerbaijan. His route includes a visit to a tea plantation and a stop at a museum dedicated to Joseph Stalin.

Batumi to Baku is an episode‑style programme that follows a single journey across the South Caucasus. The series is presented as a travel documentary, with Michael Portillo as the on‑screen guide. Its format is that of a self‑contained episode, and it falls under the broader genre of travel‑focused television. In this instalment Portillo moves through Georgia and Azerbaijan, tracing a route that once formed part of the Russian empire. Along the way he stops at a tea plantation, where the cultivation and processing of the crop are shown, and he also spends time inside a museum devoted to Joseph Stalin, offering a glimpse of the region’s Soviet past. The programme’s title, Batumi to Baku, reflects the two coastal cities that book‑end the journey, and the episode captures the contrast between the two nations as Portillo moves from one border to the next. By combining visits to both agricultural and historical sites, the show gives viewers a snapshot of the cultural and political landscape that characterises this part of the former empire.