Michael Portillo's Long Weekends

Michael Portillo is a good host, and he visits some very interesting people and places in this series about six European cities. It is well produced and is informative and upbeat. The main fault is that Portillo hogs the spotlight. He asks questions but the interviewees get only a bit of attention before he gives some personal anecdote, or cracks a joke and takes over the scene. He may as well simply narrate the whole show. How about letting people tell their own stories in more than one sentence? How about letting other people try cooking or sailing or motorcycle riding? It's a good travel show for people who can't go overseas themselves, but someone should tell Portillo to step back a little.