Mao Tse-tung ruled China from 1949 until his death in 1976, and this film examines for the first time on television the true extent of his tyranny and the brutality of his regime. His rise to power, and the revolution that swept away the corruption of Chiang Kai-shek, was accompanied with optimism, but in the following 25 years he virtually destroyed China. Mao's promiscuity with young girls who "felt honoured to have sex with Mao" is revealed by his doctor Li Zhisui; and former Red Guard Zheng Yi reveals that cannibalism played a part in the Cultural Revolution.

Followed by CHRISTMAS IN SARAJEVO: As we enjoy Christmas, how are the inhabitants of the Sarajevo street coping with freezing conditions, starvation and shelling? Each night over the holiday period there will be further reports.