1984 Thames Television seven-part documentary mini-series by author Martin Short, with interviews, archive home movies, and FBI surveillance footage, and featuring Aladena Fratianno, Joseph Cantalupo, John Cusack, Remo Franceschini, Johnny Dwyer, Joey Teitelbaum, Gerry Denono, Ralph Picardo, Ray Ferritto, and others. Part One: All in the Family Known as "the Honored Society," at its place of origin in Palermo and western Sicily, the Mafia was a massive criminal brotherhood that took control of all local governments and businesses in the western part of Sicily. The migration of Sicilians to the United States brought with it many members of "the Family." They began to take control of New York's five boroughs. Mafia organizations then spread to Chicago, New Orleans, Havana, Nevada, Mexico, and other places in the western hemisphere. This episode uses police surveillance films, home movies, and eyewitness accounts to look at the men who control "the Family." The first person you see and hear is Jimmy 'the weasel' Fratianno, a former Los Angeles boss, who describes his murder of Frank Borgia. He does this in a very matter of fact manner and this sets the tone for the whole series. There are no frills here, which makes it all the more compelling and disturbing.This first episode fittingly introduces the extent of the 'cosa nostra' in America. When law enforcement agencies raided an Appalachian house on November 14, 1957, they found eigthy of the USA's major crime figures gathered for a conference. As Edgar Croswell states on film, this is when the authorities first appreciated the size of organized crime in America.The documentary then explains how more was learned about the crime network through various figures turning states evidence. Joseph Valachi was the first ever to do this in 1963, and he was the man who publicly used the name 'cosa nostra' (shown through archive footage). The viewer is then introduced to three mafiosi who play the most prominent part in the series, in terms of interview time : Jimmy 'the weasel' Fratianno, Gerry Denono and Joey Cantalupe - all mafia figures who have turned informant. Bill Roemer, a former FBI agent, tells a gruesome account of how the mafia dealt with one suspected informer, Jackson. The programme goes on to give details about 'the gentle don', Angelo Bruno. This is an extensive part of this episode and includes archive news and family footage of his murder scene(unpleasant), interviews with law enforcement personnel and one of Bruno's daughters. No one knows exactly why he was killed but it is believed that it was because of his reluctance to get involved with drugs, and he is the epitomy of the old fashioned organised crime figure - with all its idealised notions that he was somehow 'honourable'. His way of running business had passed and his death was the start of a Philadelphia gang war - and interviews and footage reveal that violence is an increasing factor in the way the organisation is run. Martin John Short (22 September 1943 – 27 August 2020) was a British TV documentary producer and author. He is best known for his exposés on organized crime and on Freemasonry. Short was born in Wookey, Somerset but later his family moved to London, where he attended St Dunstan's College. In 1962, he went to Cambridge University to study history. After graduating from university, Short travelled in the Middle East and did freelance work for the BBC, before working, from 1969 to 1984, on major current affairs programmes for the ITV companies Thames Television, Granada and London Weekend Television (on the Lebanon) and for Channel 4's Dispatches series (on the international arms trade). In 1988 he presented Charlie Richardson and the British Mafia for Longshot Productions and Channel 4. Short has also completed a television series based on his 1989 book Inside the Brotherhood (Further Secrets of the Freemasons), for the ITV network with Twenty Twenty Television and Granada. As a result of his work on Freemasonry, Short made an extended appearance on Channel 4's After Dark television discussion series, and on 6 April 1989 was praised by Labour MP Max Madden in the UK House of Commons by way of two Early day motions asking the House to take action on information that Short had brought forward, and to congratulate Short on his work. Short wrote, produced and narrated the prize winning ITV documentary series on the Mafia in America, Crime Incorporated. To accompany the series he also wrote Crime Inc.: A History of Organized Crime in America. In addition to feature articles for The Times, The Spectator, New Statesman, Punch and Time Out, he co-authored (in 1977) The Fall of Scotland Yard about police corruption in London. Short married Sana Saidi in 1974; when doing research in Lebanon in the early 1970s, a family he met asked him to take a letter back to their daughter (Sana), who was studying at university in London. Short died in 2020, from cancer.

Produced from 1997 to 2001, Secrets of War is a 65-hour documentary television series about military history and the secrets of war of the 20th century. It is edited as 65 episodes. The series premiered on the History Channel in September 1998 where it prevailed in the 8 o'clock Sunday evening slot for over two years. The series was co-created by Supervising Producers John Corry and Chip Proser. Alan Beattie and Chris Chesser served as Executive Producers. Original musical score composed and conducted by Ramón Balcázar. Narrated by Charlton Heston, the series details facts and information derived from rare archival footage, formerly classified documents and messages, coupled with interviews with experts, authors and eyewitnesses from all over the world. The series was originally conceived as a 26-hour production. The first 13 hours concentrated on World War II, and the vast amount of unknown history kept secret by the British Official Secrets Act and finally revealed from 1975 to the 1990s. The second 13 hours focused on other conflicts of the 20th century. After the success of the first season, Documedia proceeded to expand the series comprehensively to address other wars, battles and intrigues, including many colour present-day shows on topics as diverse as chemical weapons and spy planes, and theme-oriented episodes like prisoners of war and code breakers. The series interviewed key participants in all of the important conflicts of the 20th century, including prominent authors with unique perspectives of the clandestine aspects of war. The creators worked with the top spies of the era: former Directors of the CIA James Woolsey, Richard Helms and Dr. James Schlesinger; former Chairmen of the KGB Generals Vladimir Semichastny and Alexander Shelepin (Russia); as well as former directors of the MOSSAD Meir Amit and Isser Harel. Other commenters participated, including: Henry Kissinger, Robert McNamara, Dan Quayle, John H. Sununu, James A. Baker III, Jack Valenti, Howard K. Smith, John K. Singlaub, David Eisenhower, Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Senator John McCain. Each one-hour episode tells a strong, specific and factual story, backed up by interviews, rare footage, 3D graphics, on-location shooting, historical retracing shots and extensive reenactments. It is used in the classrooms of the United States Naval Academy and United States Air Force Academy, and the only military series that American Forces Network (formerly the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) licenses for American Service men and women on military bases and ships worldwide.