Reputations

Albert Frederick Arthur George , known to his family as Bertie, came to the throne when his brother, Edward VIII , abdicated. Thrust into the spotlight, this shy man overcame his fear of public speakingto become one of the country's best-loved monarchs.

Sir Matt Busby is a footballing legend, revered for leading Manchester United from the tragedy of the 1958 Munich air crash to victory in the European Cup. But, it is claimed, he did little to protect his stars from football's harsh realities.

Sugar Ray Robinson dominated the boxing ring in the forties and fifties. He defied the Mob, infuriated the taxman, took on and beat Jake la Motta , won a clutch of world titles, and earned (and lost) an estimated $4 million in the ring.

Both a barnstorming showman and a misfit, Jimi Hendrix was a jumble of contradictions. A black guitarist ensnared by the trappings of fame that a white audience had given him, he became an icon of peace but adopted a pro-military stance. Friends and fellow musicians remember Hendrix against the backdrop of footage from the guitarist's short life.

Ireland's leader for 21 years, Eamon de Valera was loved and hated in equal measure.A revolutionary, he became president of Sinn Fein in 1918, but his fight for independence led to civil war and he was seen as the scourge of the IRA. This film probes the contradictory, complex character of the prime minister who styled himself as the embodiment of the Irish nation.

At Mata Hari's trial in 1917, the French military believed they had captured one of the 20th century's greatest undercover agents. In reality, however, she was as much a master of invention as a master spy.

Dr Wernhervon Braun 's quest to lead the human race into space began in Nazi Germany. The Saturn V rocket that carried the triumphant Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon in July 1969 evolved from von Braun's V2 missile, which had killed 5,000 Londoners in the Second World War. This film remembers the achievements of a man said to have inspired the eponymous character in Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove.

Two-part profile of Alfred Hitchcock. This edition traces his life from the streets of suburbia to the boulevards of Hollywood, exploring the childhood influences that turned an overweight loner into the master of suspense and revealing how he came to marry Alma Reville, a tough film professional who was her husband's severest critic and fiercest champion.

Two-part profile of Alfred Hitchcock. This second edition examines his output of the 50s and 60s. Groundbreaking thriller Psycho made him wealthy, while films such as Vertigo and Rear Window were hailed by Francois Truffaut as works of genius. But Hitchcock's obsession with control and his pursuit of the perfect blonde actress took on a new and damaging intensity.