In the series, Clifton-Taylor visits an English town and discusses their history and architectural character, with a particular focus on the building materials.

He was introduced by his friend Nikolaus Pevsner to BBC arts producer John Drummond who was planning a series on British architecture called Spirit of the Age.

The Radio Times stated that the initial six towns were chosen "based not so much on the historical appeal of a fine cathedral, a castle or a church but the range and quality of the ordinary domestic houses and the use made of the traditional building materials of England - stone, brick, wood and plaster."

2 in F major as their title music (which Clifton-Taylor later chose as one of his Desert Island Discs[5]), series 3 has an original score composed by Jim Parker.

A lovely old duffer in a Viyella shirt, tweed jacket and wobbly hat pottering about six small English towns with a camera crew in tow and speaking quietly of their simple virtues...I still think these programmes are some of the best made on architecture, buildings and places, because I learned so much from them, liked their lack of pretension, their quiet passion and Clifton-Taylor's great ability as a communicator.