S1 E1 • Indiana Jones

Documentary from award-winning director David Hickman exploring how the story of Indiana Jones was inspired by the real exploits of Roy Chapman Andrews - an American explorer and naturalist. Andrews was best known for a series of perilous expeditions to the Far East that resulted in a number of important discoveries - much like the star of Spielberg's famous movie series.

Première diffusion : 16 avril 2008

S1 E2 • James Bond

A documentary chronciled the life of James Bond creator Ian Fleming and what led him to create his famous spy.

Première diffusion : 23 avril 2008

S1 E3 • Escape from Alcatraz

Historical documentary examining a remarkable escape attempt from Alcatraz prison. In June 1962, three inmates successfully broke out of the jail and took to the waters of San Francisco Bay in a makeshift raft, never to be seen again.

Première diffusion : 30 avril 2008

S1 E4 • Al Capone and the Untouchables

Using interviews, exclusive footage and dramatic reconstructions, this documentary explores the true story of how a small group of law enforcers led by Eliot Ness brought down notorious Mafia boss Al Capone in 1930s Chicago.

Première diffusion : 7 mai 2008

S1 E5 • Amityville Horror

On 13 November 1974, police discovered six members of the De Feo family shot dead; the father, mother and four of the five children, at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. Attention turned to Ronald, the only child to survive the ordeal. He was soon declared guilty of the murders, his motivation supposedly being that he did not get on with his father and saw the killings as retribution for the years of hell his Dad had put him through. After the trial, a newlywed couple in search of their dream home bought the house. But one month later the couple fled from the house claiming it was possessed with demonic spirits. They organised for two psychics to enter the house and carry out a séance. The supposed ghosts they identified were those of Native American Indians. The piece of land where the house had been built had been a place where sick and insane members of the tribe were isolated until they died. This revelation became a national story. It wasn’t long before the book Amityville Horror shot to the top of the best seller list and a blockbuster movie followed. But the next chapter is a remarkable twist. Two paranormal investigators began delving into the case and eventually revealed that the hauntings were an elaborate hoax – concocted as a money making con. In this episode of The True Story, we meet the key people behind this amazing story.

Première diffusion : 14 mai 2008

S1 E6 • The Hunt For Red October

In 1975, a disgruntled Soviet officer led a mutiny on board a state-of-the-art Russian warship. Unlike the movie captain portrayed by Sean Connery, this maverick sought to cause a revolution in his own land – and almost sparked a war in the process. In 1984, an insurance salesman-turned-author named Tom Clancy published his bestseller, ‘The Hunt for Red October’. The book, and the 1989 film starring Sean Connery, depicted the hijacking of a Russian nuclear submarine by a Soviet captain determined to defect to the West. Yet, as this documentary reveals, the story that inspired Clancy’s fiction was equally dramatic. Clancy’s book had its roots in an uprising on the Soviet frigate Storozhevoy, or Sentry, in November 1975. The mutiny was instigated by Political Officer Valery Sablin, the second-in-command, who had grown unhappy with corruption in the Soviet state. “He saw the party elite line their pockets with oil contracts and diamond mines,” explains historian Gregory Young. Infuriated by a state of affairs that saw workers living in poverty, Sablin, a committed communist, decided to spark a new revolution. Sablin’s plan was to seize the Sentry in Riga and sail it up the Baltic Sea to Leningrad, where he would launch an uprising. He began by locking the captain in a compartment and calling the ship’s 16 officers to a meeting. With impassioned rhetoric, Sablin tried to persuade them to back the mutiny. “It really was the speech of his life,” says Young. In the event, the officers were split down the middle. Some, including Lt Boris Gindin, saw folly in the plan. “He was going against the military Russian machine that could destroy you in a second,” he says. Gindin and seven others were locked in the hold by the plotters. However, Sablin’s plan to sail out of Riga as part of a convoy was dashed when one of the officers who had voted to back him slipped off the ship and went to raise the alarm. Sablin had no choice but to sneak out of the harbour and head for international waters. When the military learned of the mutiny, they immediately assumed that Sablin was trying to defect – with nearby Sweden his likely destination. Russia’s leaders, including the premier, Leonid Brezhnev, knew they could not risk letting the Sentry fall into enemy hands. Although the ship had no nuclear capability, its state-of-the-art design was still unfamiliar to western intelligence. The officers locked in the ship’s belly were well aware that Russia would sooner sink the vessel than let itescape. “We were very scared because we knew that the Russian government would never let us go,” recalls Gindin. Russia launched boats and planes to scour the area. They were assisted by a dense fog, which forced Sablin to switch on his radar – thus alerting the military to his location. The pursuit was also being watched by the Swedish military, uncertain if they were witnessing an invasion. As the Sentry neared a busy shipping lane, the danger of a Russian plane attacking the wrong vessel increased. “If a merchant ship or a ferry had been hit, there would have been a really major crisis,” says Professor Eric Grove. The turning point came when Russian jets launched an assault on the Sentry. Sablin ordered his crew not to fire back and, in the confusion, sailors opted to release the Sentry’s captain. The mutineers were rounded up and the ship returned to Russia. Sablin was later executed and the crew members were demoted or discharged. Sablin’s co-conspirators now look back on his bold plan with mixed feelings. Reflecting on the book inspired by these events, Gregory Young remarks: “The true story of a political officer not leaving his motherland but determined to change his motherland... is a better story.”

Première diffusion : 26 novembre 2009

S1 E7 • The Bourne Identity

This documentary explores the real-life CIA history that inspired the Jason Bourne movies. Robert Ludlum’s amnesiac super-spy is a highly skilled secret agent, trained to work secret ‘black ops’. The origins of his character lie in genuine CIA programmes to brainwash people into becoming assassins – including shocking experiments that endangered the lives of psychiatric patients. Jason Bourne is the super-skilled CIA spy with no memory of his past life. He is trained to assassinate enemies of the USA without the knowledge of the government. Bourne was created by author Robert Ludlum and portrayed by Matt Damon in a trilogy of films beginning with 2002’s ‘The Bourne Identity’. Ludlum used his contacts within the CIA to make his novels as realistic as possible. He even used a real-life assassin, Carlos the Jackal, as the villain. For the first Bourne movie, director Doug Liman was inspired by another true story. He changed the villain from an individual to an organisation – a secret cell within the CIA known as ‘Operation Treadstone’. He based this cell on the one exposed by the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, when members of the CIA were found to be operating black ops in Nicaragua. Liman had a personal connection with the Iran-Contra scandal because his father led the investigation. “I got to see how spies worked in the real world,” he says. “Bourne wouldn’t be Bourne if it weren’t for the fact that my father ran this investigation.” The guilty parties in the Iran-Contra affair provided the template for the villains in ‘The Bourne Identity’. Liman also ensured that Jason Bourne’s skills matched those of elite agents – including his stunt driving skills and his ability to fight in confined spaces. “He keeps moving, he’s got good balance and he uses whatever’s around him to accomplish his mission,” says combat instructor Brandon Sommerfield. Bourne is primed to withstand torture techniques such as waterboarding. Remarkably, real-life agents are trained the same way. Another key piece of Bourne’s character is his inability to recall his identity. He is a ‘Manchurian Candidate’ – an operative brainwashed to become the perfect assassin. Incredibly, the CIA spent over 20 years trying to create just such an agent. Recently opened files show that these experiments began in the 1950s, when the US military suspected the Chinese of brainwashing soldiers. They resolved to develop mind-control techniques of their own. The MKULTRA programme began by looking at hypnosis. In one experiment, a nurse was hypnotised into firing an unloaded gun at a woman. Yet hypnosis was soon found to be unreliable, so doctors turned to mind-altering drugs – including LSD. In one task, employees spiked each other’s drinks without their knowledge. A disturbing phase of tests began when CIA doctors experimented on mentally ill patients. “Psychiatric patients are a good group to experiment on because they’re disenfranchised, disempowered and they’re very easy to discredit,” says Dr Colin Ross. In the early 70s, schizophrenic Karen Wetmore spent seven months in a straitjacket under the ‘care’ of CIA doctors. On one occasion, she was given 35 electro-shocks in 40 seconds, in what may have been an attempt to induce amnesia. “I just remember wondering what I had done to be treated like this,” Karen says. In 1975, the US Senate put an end to the programme. Yet critics argue that the CIA has continued its efforts to harness mind control by experimenting with electromagnetic fields. Meanwhile, the issue of assassination has returned in force, with the US Government’s efforts to eliminate members of Al-Qaeda in the wake of 9/11. Doug Liman believes the public remains ambivalent on the issue – comparing it to the slaughter of animals. “We’re grateful for the meat,” he says. “Just don’t tell us how you did it.”

Première diffusion : 27 décembre 2009

S1 E8 • Silence of the Lambs

Silence of the Lambs tells the story of a young ambitious FBI profiler Clarice Starling as she pursues the serial killer Buffalo Bill with the help of convicted psychopath Hannibal Lecter. While researching the book on which the film was based, author Thomas Harris spent days with the FBI’s pioneering Behavioural Science Unit, questioning criminal profilers and immersed in the case-files of serial killers. Now, we reveal the movie’s real-life inspirations: serial killer Ted Bundy who, like psychiatrist Lecter, evaded capture with his charming, young lawyer persona; Ed Gein, whose sickening crimes echo the movie exploits of Buffalo Bill; and a young female FBI agent who helped Harris create Agent Starling. We also explore how Silence of the Lambs revolutionised the make-up of the profession, inspiring many women to become profilers, and reveal chilling footage of one such female entrant interviewing Gary Ridgway, considered America’s most prolific serial killer.

Première diffusion : 7 janvier 2010