Episode 8 • 2016 • episode "S1E8" • The 101 People who Made the 20th Century

65:58

Hugh Dennis discovers what Sir Winston Churchill means to people today and explore the legacy he left behind across the globe. Hugh's journey starts with his own recollections of Churchill's funeral, as a young boy watching the flypast from the garden of his father's vicarage, and goes on to describe growing awareness of the influence and personal style of an Englishman who dominated the 20th Century political and cultural landscape like no other. Hugh meets people and visits places upon which Churchill left his indelible mark - from historians, to family members, and employees including former Personal Secretary Lady Jane Williams. There will also be famous faces such as Robert Hardy CBE who won a BAFTA for his portrayal as Churchill in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years. Each gives their personal insight into the incredible man behind the public image.

2015 • People

44:54

Amol Rajan joins Sir Richard Branson on one of his cruise ships in Miami to discuss his life, loves, passions and challenges. In a sometimes uncomfortable interview with rarely seen archive footage, Rajan delves into Branson's background to discover how he went from 60s hippy to global business icon, reshaping multiple industries and ending up in space.

2023 • People

46:07

The early years of Bin Laden, from timid Saudi schoolboy to revered freedom fighter. The first episode begins with Osama Bin Laden's schooldays in Saudi Arabia. He grew up in a wealthy family, loved westerns and soccer, and avoided fights in the schoolyard. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, like many Arab men, he joined the resistance to liberate the country from the occupying forces. In Peshawar, Pakistan, just across the Afghan border, he sets up a "service bureau" and uses his connections to organize money for the fight. He keeps promising his mother not to go into battle himself, but then joins the mujahideen commander Sayed Wahidyar, who is only called "Fearless". According to Wahidyar, bin Laden is initially a burden because he has no idea about fighting. The wealth he inherited and the family's connections to the construction industry come in handy when he begins to build much-needed infrastructure such as roads, warehouses and clinics on his own. In the Battle of Jaji, the Soviet troops were finally repulsed with the help of the experienced Afghan mujahideen - a decisive victory for bin Laden, which resulted in the superpower's final withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988. It is the beginning of a myth fueled in part by Bin Laden himself. His supposed military success gives him enormous prestige. In the same year, Bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda. The die is cast.

S1E1 • Bin Laden: The Road to 9.11 • 2021 • People

42:36

"I told you so..." H.G. Wells' self penned epitaph underscores a lifetime of grim yet uncanny prophecy. With stories like The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The World Set Free, and The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells established himself as a sci-fi writer of almost clairvoyant talent.

S1E3 • Prophets of Science Fiction • 2011 • People

49:59

From a painter who changed the face of modern art to the most recognised figure of WWII, this episode spans the century, highlighting people of such profound influence that they can reasonably be termed “iconic”. Whether they’re reshaping a nation or reinventing the tools that will forever change the way we live, no one could argue that the Top Twenty are all people who made the twentieth century.

S1E7 • The 101 People who Made the 20th Century • 2016 • People

88:41

Tells the remarkable story of a charlatan art dealer who swindled over $50 million from the art establishment before going on the run. Michel Cohen, a popular and charming New York art dealer was originally from France. A high school drop-out from a poor background, Cohen was a self-invented man who went on to become a rich and successful art dealer, with homes in Malibu and New York. Throughout the 1990s, he sold paintings by artists such as Picasso, Monet and Chagall to America’s wealthiest elite. Cohen was living the high life until he began trading recklessly in the stock market and ran up considerable debts. In an attempt to recoup his losses, he swindled private collectors, auction houses and other art dealers out of more than $50 million. When his swindles were discovered, he fled the USA with his wife and two small children and went on the run. In 2003, he was found by Interpol in Brazil and was imprisoned in Rio de Janeiro, but seven months later, whilst awaiting extradition to the USA, he escaped from prison and vanished off the face of the earth. Sixteen years later, filmmaker Vanessa Engle has managed to track him down and persuade him to tell his extraordinary story - a highly entertaining crime caper that is also a rich exploration of greed, motive and morality.

2019 • People