Winston Churchill: The Man Behind the Myth

When Winston Churchill died in 1965 he was already a relic of a lost age, but his funeral brought a city to a standstill, the first state funeral to a non-royal since the 19th century. This programme examines this extraordinary man's successes and failures, his early career, a career that started long before his historic performance during World War II.

On the first day of World War II, the Admiralty sent a message to all of the British Navy. It simple read "Winston is back." British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had made Churchill First Lord Of The Admiralty, a position that Churchill had held at the beginning of World War I. This programme delves into Churchill's war record during World War II and asks the question: "How did a man responsible for some of history's greatest military disasters become a hero of the British people and the only man who could lead them through the war?"

This programme begins at the end of World War II, the final chapter of Churchill's career when he admitted that he was lonely and did not relish the prospect of the humdrum of a peace-time politician. This programme tells of the final contradictory years, his ideas that were well ahead of his time, his struggle with ill health and his advanced years. Churchill will surely go down in history as the flawed genius, a man who was capable of both towering achievements and some of the rashest moments of folly in history.