Great Thinkers: In Their Own WordsEpisodes Guide

The 20th century was a time of unprecedented change and conflict. Violence and war spread across Europe and the world, and as new technology trumped old it became possible to harm others on a previously unimaginable scale. In this turbulent age, a new breed of thinker emerged who would examine what drives humanity. And the advent of television gave psychologists and scientists the chance to preach their ideas to the world. This programme mines the BBC archive to hear the great minds of the 20th century in their own words - the likes of Sigmund Freud, Margaret Mead, BF Skinner, Benjamin Spock and Richard Dawkins. The film also reveals some unseen gems, such as unseen footage from Panorama of the psychologist Carl Jung discussing his torturous relationship with Professor Freud. Featuring contributions from modern-day scientists such as evolutionary biologist Professor Armand Leroi, broadcasting legend Sir David Attenborough and psychologist Oliver James, this is a unique opportunity to hear some of the most famous thinkers of our times.

The question of how to run a good society has puzzled intellectuals for centuries. Should we allow governments to secure a better country, or place our trust in the individual? In the 20th century, political and economic thinkers were able to take to our screens to preach their ideas on how they thought Britain should be run. This film features political and economic thinkers who were united by the belief that, for the first time in history, they'd at last found THE KEY to running a good society. And with the advent of broadcasting, these scholars even became national celebrities. The series mines the BBC archive for footage of the great minds of the modern age - presenting these thinkers in their own words, and the film reveals these thinkers in a new and surprising light. It shows an emotional Isaiah Berlin describing seeing the horrors of the Russian Revolution first hand, as well as a furious Bertrand Russell raging against the nuclear arms race and previously unseen footage of William Beveridge, founder of the Welfare State. From the feminism of Germaine Greer to the right-wing economics of Friedrich Hayek, this is a unique opportunity to hear some of the most famous thinkers of our times.

Culture used to be so easy to define - it was ballet, opera, Shakespeare, Beethoven... But in the 20th century, these easy assumptions were torn apart by intellectuals who turned culture into a political weapon. In a series which mines the BBC archive for footage of the great minds of the modern age - presenting these thinkers in their own words - this film looks at key thinkers, from FR Leavis to Stuart Hall, who have redefined the meaning of culture in the modern age. It's a story that takes in the unashamed elitism of Kenneth Clark in his triumphant series Civilisation; the battle to give culture to the people waged by Raymond Williams and Richard Hoggart; and the advent of popular culture, spearheaded by hip young American academic Susan Sontag. From the battle over Lady Chatterley's Lover to the war against imperialism from Edward Said and CLR James, this is a thrilling intellectual journey that still resonates in all our lives today.