Perspectives

David Suchet finds out what gave Christie's stories worldwide appeal and why characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple captured the imagination of so many devotees.

Actor Warwick Davis explores the miraculous survival story of the Ovitz family - ten Jewish brothers and sisters from Romania, seven of whom were born with dwarfism. Their musical group The Lilliput Troupe toured Eastern Europe during the 1930s and 1940s, managing to elude Nazi persecution of Jews until 1944 when they were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The family underwent horrific experiments but lived to see the liberation of Auschwitz, spending several months returning to their home on foot. Warwick heads to the small Transylvania village where the five sisters and two brothers were born, their incredible yet poignant story prompting him to reflect on his own experiences as a dwarf actor and entertainer.

Sheila Hancock sets out to discover what inspired the Bronte sisters to write such epic novels seemingly worlds apart from their own lives.

Former minister Michael Portillo examines the life and work of Pablo Picasso and reveals how his love of Picasso's art was influenced by his own father, a Spanish republican exile.

Paul O'Grady reveals the effect that a legendary striptease artist had on him as he explores the life of the queen of American burlesque, Gypsy Rose Lee.

Jonathan Ross examines the life and career of the most celebrated director in the history of cinema, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, in a quest for the British roots of his unique style.