The Face of Power
In the first episode in the series, Simon Schama explores the eternal power of portraiture. Before we can walk, before we can talk, we become readers of faces, and throughout our lives face reading helps us to navigate the world. This primal engagement with the face makes portraiture one of the most compelling forms of art. Beginning with an exploration of how a portrait, commissioned to celebrate Winston Churchill's 80th birthday, ended in disaster for both artist and sitter, Schama discovers how portraits can involve a battle for control and - from the destruction of the faces of Christ and the Virgin during the Reformation, to Elizabeth I's fabulous feats of image making - demonstrates the importance of portraiture in fostering loyalty. Schama shows how royalists and parliamentarians fought over the image of the executed Charles I during the Civil War and how the aristocracy used portraiture to assert their dominion over the realm in the 18th century. Through the pioneering political cartoons of James Gillray, he explores how the powerful lost control of their image to the snigger of the streets. Simon looks at how photography allowed Queen Victoria to rebrand the monarchy as a modern family and discusses the role Margaret Thatcher's rigid control of her image played in launching her political career.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
FBI: Most Wanted
FBI: Most Wanted is a high-stakes drama that focuses on the Fugitive Task Force, which relentlessly tracks and captures the notorious criminals on the Bureau's Most Wanted list. Seasoned agent Jess LaCroix oversees the highly skilled team that functions as a mobile undercover unit that is always out in the field, pursuing those who are most desperate to elude justice.
S.W.A.T.
Shemar Moore stars as a locally born and raised S.W.A.T. sergeant newly tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Torn between loyalty to where he was raised and allegiance to his brothers in blue, former Marine Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson has everything it takes to be an excellent leader and bridge the divide between his two worlds.
American Dad!
In American Dad!, Stan Smith leads the all-American family in this animated sitcom filled with wild and crazy extremes. Everyday life is taken to the limit as Stan applies the same drastic measures used in his job at the CIA to his home life. Driven by machismo and the American dream, he often is blind to how horribly he fails at his attempts. This father might not know best, but he never stops trying.
Miss Austen
Miss Austen takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane's letters – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine.
The drama begins in 1830, a while after Jane has died. Cassandra races to see her young friend Isabella who is about to lose her home following her father's death. Cassandra is ostensibly there to help her friend, but her real motive is to find a stash of private letters which, in the wrong hands, could destroy Jane's reputation. On discovering them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth. In flashback, we meet Young Cassy and Jane as they navigate the infatuations, family feuds and dashed hopes which shaped their lives and laid the foundations for Jane's unforgettable stories. Cassandra's re-evaluation of her past eventually leads her to realise how blind she has been to the real cause of Isabella's heartache and distress. Finding a way to guide Isabella towards true happiness, Cassandra is finally able to understand and celebrate the sacrifices she chose to make for her brilliant sister, Jane.
Good Cop/Bad Cop
Good Cop/Bad Cop is a one-hour procedural dramedy centered around Lou and Henry, an odd couple sister and brother detective team in a small Pacific Northwest police force. They must contend with colorful residents, a serious lack of resources, and their very complicated dynamic with each other and with their police chief, Big Hank - who happens to be their father.