A documentary offering a portrait of Mao Tse-Tung, one of the 20th century’s most controversial leaders. Author and former BBC correspondent Philip Short looks at Mao’s life from his childhood and rise to power to his death in 1976. The programme examines the legacy of Mao’s rule of China and features exclusive interviews with some of Mao’s inner circle, as well as dramatic unseen footage from the period of the ‘cultural revolution‘

This programme revisits the dark days of the Cold War with a startling examination of East Germany’s secret programme to feed its top female athletes with untested drugs. For decades, the communist GDR state administered harmful drugs to thousands of young women in a desperate and dangerous bid to achieve sporting excellence.

This programme uncovers the true story of an audacious escape from Auschwitz by two young Slovak Jews in 1944 – an event which alerted the world to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps.

Lord Carnarvon, the great-grandson of one of the men who discovered the tomb, travels across Egypt on a quest to reexamine the life of the Boy King. With the help of archaeological discoveries, computer graphics and new historical research, he presents a portrait of Tutankhamun that challenges pre-conceived wisdom about the famous but enigmatic pharaoh.

An insightful investigation into the infamous chapter of maritime history known as The Mutiny on the Bounty. Mark Arundel is the great, great, great, great, great grandson of Captain Bligh, and he questions whether hero and villain status has been correctly apportioned. In films, TV dramatisations, and more than two thousand books, the popular approach has been to portray Bligh as a vicious tyrant, and Fletcher Christian, the lead mutineer, as a noble romantic. Can Mark’s findings turn popular misconception on its head?

Told for the first time, the extraordinary story of how heroic nuns, the Polish Resistance and a game of chess saved one Jewish family from the Holocaust.

JFK enjoyed a number of sexual liaisons that could have ended his political career, but his brother Bobby always managed to keep the truth from the press. This explosive documentary focuses on four women who could have ended JFK’s presidency, and the deal the brothers made with J Edgar Hoover to stay in power.

A professional lip reader, aided by modern technology, reveals what Hitler is saying in the silent home movies Eva Braun took of him.

Criminal psychologist at New Scotland Yard Laura Richard uses modern investigation techniques to try and build a portrait of the Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper. She and other experts, including a pathologist, historian, profiler and policeman, examine the crimes and try and establish why the particular victims were chosen, and the possible motivations and reasons for the crimes.

This documentary shows how the Italian dictator drew on support at home and abroad to embark on military conflicts in Libya, Ethiopia and Spain before his catastrophic alliance with Hitler led to his eventual downfall.

Myra Hindley's cool attitude while on trial for the Moors Murders gave her a reputation for being a monster, but what was she like when she was actually in jail?

Documentary that attempts to solve the mystery surrounding Tutankhamun's death. Two leading US homicide detectives apply modern investigative techniques to try to find out who killed the boy-king. Uses reconstructions shot in Egypt, and 3-D computer animation.

Documentary looking at the British soldiers who turned against the Allies during the Second World War to join a Waffen SS unit called the British Free Corps, brainchild of English Nazi John Amery.

Documentary which follows the excavation of a Bronze Age village that was destroyed by volcanic activity from Vesuvius - some 2,000 years before the famous eruption that froze Pompeii in time.

Documentary which tells the tale of Barnes Wallis' 'bouncing bomb' which destroyed to German dams during the Second World War. Uses reconstructions, interviews, archive footage, and a fresh assessment of the technology involved.

German historian Lothar Machtan explores notions of Hitler's sexual identity. Combines archive footage, photographs and interviews with people such as Geoffrey Giles and Michelangelo Signorile.

Investigates the Hindenburg's crash as if it had happened today, using modern scientific methods. Considers the evidence that has survived from the official enquiry of 1937, as well as evidence gathered from other sources not used in this enquiry including more than 300 eyewitness statements. Challenges both the official conclusion and theories that have been put forward since then.

Documentary which follows the attempts of scientists to learn more about the sarcophagus which is believed to have inspired Bram Stoker's 'The Jewel of the Seven Stars' in which an egyptologist unearths a powerful Egyptian queen whose mummified body returns to wreak deadly revenge on the living. Also identifies the 'curse' that killed Lord Caernarvon, co-discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, as biological rather than magical.

Documentary that looks into the past of Abba's Frida Lyngstad, who was an illegitimate child of a Nazi officer stationed in Norway.

Documentary on the mystery surrounding Marilyn Monroe's death. Many believe the Hollywood star did not commit suicide.

Documentary showing new evidence from archeologists for the 9,000 year-old mythical odyssey to seek the fabled Golden Fleece.

Documentary looking into the circumstances surrounding the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, speculating on whether it occurred through a fever or poisoning. Commander John Grieve of Scotland Yard investigates the historical details and information.

Documentary in which engineer Bashar Altabba looks at the building of the Thai-Burma railway during World War II. Besides the engineering side it also covers the appalling treatment and conditions of the Allied prisoners of war who forced to construct the railway line by the Japanese. Includes interviews with some of the survivors.

Documentary about Roman gladiators, considering their place in society, what they did, their fighting styles, training and diet.

Documentary about the search for ‘Dick’, the escape tunnel the Germans never found – combining archaeology, first-hand testimony and drama reconstructions.