Real Lives

This series of Channel 4's revealing biographical documentaries gives fascinating insights into a range of unforgettable characters both living and dead. They include: the man who impaled himself on the sword of truth; the singer who became a gay icon; the nation's teddy bear; the clown prince; the unrepentant cad; the royal governess who spilled the beans; the man who rode the chariot of the gods; the bored hedonist; the physicist whose bestseller few have read; the corpulent monarch; the legendary deaf and blind campaigner; the world's most riotously drunken drummer; the anarchist who invented Fascism; the indiscreet consort; the 'good' Nazi; the woman who 'mothered' a king; and the slave who revolted.