UPCOMING EPISODES

Martin Scorsese’s film about the New York mafia is considered one of the greatest gangster movies of all time. It is based on a book by Nicholas Pileggi, called Wiseguy. Based on the life story of Henry Hill it features the Lufthansa heist at JFK where $6 million in cash and jewellery was stolen in 1978. The movie claims that Hill went clean from 1987, after having his identity changed as part of the witness protection programme. But he didn’t – as he was arrested for narcotics offences right up to his death in 2012. However he had a parallel career as chef and a cookbook writer and was a regular guest on the Howard Stern show.

The 2012 film directed by Kathryn Bigelow about the killing of Osama bin Laden. Various critical elements in the film were later disputed; like the effectiveness of the water boarding and the use of classified information, and also the way in which Osama bin Laden was killed. The CIA agent, Maya, is made up – although it is true that most of the team hunting bin Laden were women. There is also a controversy about how bin Laden was found. The film says it was by tracing a courier – but journalist Seymour Hersch says that it was because there was a tip off from a Pakistani intelligence officer. No DNA from bin Laden, nor photos of him dead, have ever been released. Some reports say that half his skull was blown off. Again this was neither in the official version nor the movie.

Zodiac is a 2007 film about the Zodiac series killings in San Francisco in 1969. They remain unsolved. The film follows the real life research of cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who became obsessed with the murderer, as he could decode some of his letters. Graysmith became convinced that the murderer was Arthur Leigh Allen. However the evidence against him was inconclusive. The final letter form Zodiac was sent in 1974. There have been no more Zodiac killings. Robert Graysmith stopped being a cartoonist and became a successful crime writer. So who was Zodiac? This film looks at the mystery.

In the feature film, Lone Survivor, a secret US Navy SEAL mission in Afghanistan is ambushed and only one man, Marcus Luttrell, survives. The film follows Luttrell's struggle to escape from Taliban territory alive. But in reality, he couldn’t have done it without the bravery of an Afghan villager, Mohammad Gulab, who puts himself and his family at great risk. With Luttrell safely back in the US, Gulab becomes a target for the Taliban - and his relatives are caught in the crossfire.

In 2009 armed Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama. Four years later Hollywood gave America a new hero in the form of its commander, Captain Phillips. But the real story is the desperate struggle of another man: Chief Engineer Mike Perry. Below decks he disables the ship and works to save the crew. His critical fight back leads to the captures of the pirate leader – a crucial bargaining chip in the eventual negotiations to get the pirates off the Alabama.