Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland: when is Miriam Margolyes and Alan Cumming show on TV, and where do they go?

Scottish actor Alan Cumming has lived in the US for more than 20 years, but his latest visit home to Scotland has been documented in Channel 4’s travel series, Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland.

The show follows Cumming, 56, and fellow actor and friend Miriam Margolyes as they tour Scotland in a van, revisiting the streets where Cumming grew up.

Along the way, Oxford-born Miriam also visits her relatives in Glasgow and learns more about Judaism in Scotland.

So, when is the show on Channel 4, and where in Scotland did they visit? This is what you need to know.

Where do Miriam and Alan visit in Scotland?

Lost in Scotland follows the pair as they travel up the west coast of Scotland, into Glasgow where Miriam visits the street where her Jewish family settled.

During their visit to Glasgow, Miriam and Alan also have dinner with Miriam’s cousin, Gloria.

The Hollywood stars then head north on a journey that takes them along the west and east coasts.

Alan begins the journey with the ambition of finding a nice retirement spot on the west coast,which he later attributes to attempting to escape his childhood in Aberfeldy, Perthshire.

Speaking of his hunt for a home in Scotland, Alan told Channel 4: “I have to say Miriam Margolyes wove her magic and I’m now looking in the Cairngorms area.

“I used to be very much a West coast person but through travel, I’ve now learned my obsession with the West was some sort of anti where I grew up, pushing away from that.

“But the Cairngorms is quite near where I grew up and I think it’s a better spot for me. I can get what I need – solitude, a loch, no midges and dramatic scenery. That was very much Miriam’s influence.”

They also visit Alan’s mother and the home he grew up in, though Alan chose not to go inside the house to avoid stirring up memories of growing up with an abusive father.

Along the way, they also tick off one of Miriam’s bucket list items by racing up Glencoe. Alan tries to stomach Miriam’s daily breakfast of raw onion while Miriam attempts to concoct a midge repellent so her allergic companion can retire on the west coast.

They meet Gaelic singers, play golf, make and eat Haggis (something which Jewish Miriam had never done as she thought it was made of pork), and tell each other stories of their past.

Talking to Channel 4 ahead of the show airing, Margoyles said: “I’m not usually interested in being with other celebrities – I like discovering people and in a sense, I was discovering Alan for myself and that was very special.

“It’s the least interesting thing about us, that we’re famous,” she added.

How did Miriam and Alan meet?

The actors frequent similar circles and Cumming traced their first meeting back to the early 1990s when they were working with late actor Ian Holm (The Fifth Element, Ratatouille).

Cumming said: “I shot this film with Ian Holm about FR Leavis (The Last Romantics) and that was who Miriam was taught by at Cambridge.

“At some point around that time, I was with Ian and we chatted to you about FR Leavis so that was probably the first time, but we’ve met a lot over the years at various backstage things.”

Miriam then added that their most recent catch up was on the Graham Norton show, where they shared the couch with Margoyles’ Harry Potter colleague, Daniel Radcliffe.

“It was just lovely to see [Alan] again. Very thrilling,” she remembered.

Alan added: “We’re sort of like showbiz friends who meet over the years at various things and can’t quite place it. I shot that film in 1991 so it’s been a long time ago.”

When is Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland on TV?

Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland begins on 16 November at 9pm on Channel 4.

The three-part series airs weekly and episodes are available on All 4 shortly after broadcast.