Churchill: The Finest Half Hour

John 'Jock' Colville was a civil servant in 10 Downing Streeet in 1940 - and he viewed Churchill's arrival as Prime Minister with much scepticism.Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter explain why Colville's doubts about Churchill evaporated - and how he recorded his wartime experiences working at Churchill's side in a diary which is an invaluable resource for historians.They reveal too how Colville's loyalty continued in Churchill's second premiership, when Colville played a key role in keeping Churchill's health problems from the public. And how Colville became one of the great defenders of Churchill's reputation and builders of his legacy, leading the successful efforts to create Churchill College, Cambridge, as national memorial to the politician he'd served so faithfully.

In the Second World War. one of Churchill's closest working relationships - and perhaps the most significant - was with the senior commander Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff from December 1941.It was a relationship which Brooke frequently found maddening, as he recalled in his diaries. But it was also productive.Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter analyse a partnership which helped shape British and Allied military strategy. And which arguably showed Churchill - brilliant, energetic, impetuous and frustrating - at his most Churchillian.

One man was right by Churchill's side from the dramatic summer of 1940 right throught to Churchill's death in 1965: his doctor, Charles Wilson, aka Lord Moran. In 1966, Lord Moran published a book - 'Churchill: The Struggle for Survival' - which discussed Churchill's physical health and alleged that he suffered from depression, the so-called 'black dog'.Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter discuss the contents of Moran's book, its value as a source on Churchill's life and the hostile reaction to its publication from Churchill's family, who believed Moran had abandoned medical ethics.

Professor Richard Toye and Dr Warren Dockter discuss Churchill's role in the war which began in Ireland in 1919, including Churchill's journey from the 'hawk' who refused to condemn atrocities by British troops to the 'dove' who argued for a negotiated settlement.They explore Churchill's role in the treaty of 1921 which led to the creation of the Irish Free State and Churchill's relationship with the Irish military and political leader Michael Collins, who established a rapport with Churchill but noted to himself: "Don't actually trust him."

Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter explore Winston Churchill's long, complex and controversial relationship with Ireland and Irish politics.Beginning with Churchill's earliest childhood memories, they follow Churchill's political journey on most intractable political issue of the age, Irish Home Rule. They explain how Churchill abandoned the Conservative Party and the outspoken Unionism of his father, joining the Liberals and, as a Cabinet minister, making forthright speeches in favour of Home Rule - endangering his personal safety in the process. Until the outbreak of the Great War changed everything...

Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter discuss Winston Churchill's role in ending the General Strike on the government's terms, the enduring effect on his relationships with trades unions and the Labour Party - and the impact on his reputation in subsequent decades.

May 1926. The General Strike is underway and dividing the nation. Winston Churchill leads the government's propaganda effort through its newspaper 'The British Gazette' highlighting alleged Soviet support for the strikers and casting the dispute as a threat to the parliamentary democracy. Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter deliver the inside story in this episode, 'The Red Menace and the Blue Pencil'.

Marking 100 years since Britain's General Strike in May 1926, Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter explore Winston Churchill's central - and controversial - role in the government's response to the nation's first and only General Strike.They tell how Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill put himself in the front line of a propaganda war, founding a newspaper to promote the government's line, attempting to take over the BBC and casting the strike as an attack on the constitution rather than an industrial dispute. For Churchill, there was no middle ground here. It was a case of being on the side of the fire or the fire brigade.