Having lived through the Cold War, Jonathan makes his first stop in the city of Murmansk, which stands as a reminder to the years when England and Russia were close allies in a war of survival against the Nazis. But soon he moves on, savoring the sophisticated elegance of St Petersburg.

Jonathan finds himself at a reception for a Madonna concert, attended by anyone who's anyone in Moscow, including top restaurateur, Arkady Novikov. But the next day he takes the train to a different world: the family estate of Leo Tolstoy, arguably the greatest of all Russian writers.

Not far from the port of Astrakhan is a tiny village that was once the great capital of the Golden Horde. Jonathan arrives there in February when the biting wind chills to the bone, and is astonished to find how little remains of the western capital of Genghis Khan's massive empire.

Siberia is Russia's treasure chest. Jonathan starts off in an emerald mine, then heads to the great city of Ekaterinburg. Its heavy industry turned out armaments during Soviet days - and spawned a great tradition of heavy metal music. Jonathan meets Vladimir Shakhrin, an icon of rock 'n' roll.

Jonathan Dimbleby explores ten thousand miles of one of the world's most awe-inspiring countries. Jonathan follows one of the Red Cross teams struggling to manage the AIDS epidemic in Irkutsk and visits Birobidzhan, arguably one of the strangest places in Russia - a Jewish homeland created by Stalin at the furthest end of his empire. Not many Jews have survived there, but the people - Jewish or not - are proud of their unusual heritage. Jonathan finds Hanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, being jointly celebrated by the rabbi and the mayor. Finally he comes to his last stop: Vladivostok. Jonathan meets some students in a café. This far from Moscow, will they feel any different from the chic young people he met in St Petersburg some ten thousand miles ago? Not really. They want a strong Russia before they want a democratic one. As he looks out over the Pacific, Jonathan reflects on how charming and how different the Russians are from us.