Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out | Series 9 Preview (5)

Susan Calman is back for more Grand Days Out, in the company of her beloved campervan Helen, named for one of her favourite people, Helen Mirren. Susan is set for more joyful, revealing wanders right across Britain.

It’s a journey filled with delight and discovery as she meets entertaining people, experiences fascinating local customs and enjoys incredible vista. As ever, the reliable Helen will be pootling gently across the country, making sure Susan experiences every little bump along the way. But that’s all a part of the perfect Grand Day Out.

This week, Susan and her beloved sidekick Helen have an adventure across the Heart of England, taking in the wonders of Worcestershire, The Malvern Hills and the Midlands.

They start with a famously fiendish challenge at Shelsley Walsh, the world's oldest motorsport venue still running on its original track. Our dynamic duo get the chance to set a new speed record - a challenge that doesn’t inspire either with confidence - but they can’t help but give it their best shot!

Then comes a very different sort of journey - time travel to be precise, as Susan experiences a British town through history, from the industrial revolution to the 1960s. It includes a classic 1940s High Street, and a vintage vehicle; one that isn’t our Helen!

Susan stops at a place billed as the World’s Smallest Theatre, then it’s onward to a canal journey into an underground realm filled with spectacle and stories of a past age. Then, it’s luxury all the way at a bespoke carmaker with roots in the very earliest days of motoring.

Having learned what it takes to hand build a top-of-the-range classic, there's nothing for it but to leave Helen behind for a spin around the stunning Malvern countryside. Susan is shown a veritable puzzle box of a grand country house, filled with hiding places to be discovered, and dark tales of why they were used.

Then, she experiences the vintage sights - and incredibly loud sounds - of a bygone era, as she hears why the town of Kidderminster was once the capital of the country when it came to carpets. It’s been an illuminating Grand Day Out full of hidden depths and histories, secrets and surprises, all set amongst the beauty of the Heart of England.

Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out returns Friday 26th September at 8pm on 5.