Season 1

Mary is at Roman Road in London's East End. Despite investment pouring into the area for the Olympics, the shops of the Roman Road market are not reaping the benefits. Mary wants to revitalise the market, but some existing stallholders are sceptical about her vision. She wants to create a destination for street food and create 'anchors' - destination shopping spots - at either end of the street to help draw in shoppers.

Mary Portas tries to inject new life into Margate's high street, with the help of artist Tracy Emin, an inland pier and a cut-price deal for the London to Margate daytripper Margate's high street has suffered terribly in recent years, with one in four shops closing down. However, it's not all doom and gloom. The £17 million Turner Gallery has been a roaring success, attracting up to 10,000 visitors a week. Mary believes there might be an opportunity to capitalise on this existing footfall, if only visitors could be encouraged up the high street. Despite some local resistance, she comes up with the idea of an inland pier, bringing the traditional attractions of a pleasure pier into the heart of the high street. Mary also focuses her attention on local shop owner Billy, whose sweet shop has lost some of its shine over the years. She calls upon Margate's most famous artist, Tracy Emin, to assist in coming up with a new branding for the shop.

Mary travels to Liskeard in Cornwall, where her usual rocket pace and direct approach meets the laid-back Cornish attitude to life. But will this combination bring success or cause fireworks? Liskeard is a market town, 20 miles inland from Plymouth, that has been an important cattle market since medieval times, with the high street filled with busy shops. However, in 2001 the foot and mouth crisis devastated Liskeard's cattle market. On top of this, a large out-of-town supermarket has been luring customers away. Mary believes that Liskeard's high street needs to make the most of its locally produced quality food, as a way of differentiating itself from the supermarket. She is delighted to find three excellent local food shops - a butcher, a greengrocer and a fishmonger. But her suggestion of producing a joint delivery box takes a considerable time to sort out. They also venture into pie making.