World Cup Stories (2006)

This programme tells England's World Cup story, from a nation that refused to compete, through to our footballing 'finest hour' in 1966, to the trauma of failing to qualify in 1973 and eventual redemption in 1990. Featuring interviews with English footballing greats including Tom Finney, Bobby Robson, Bobby Charlton, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton and Gary Lineker, we see how English football came out of international isolation to fight for its place among the World Cup's all time greats.

Think of the World Cup and you automatically think of Brazil. We tell the story of how, inspired by the incredible talents of two of the greatest footballers of all time, Pele and Garrincha, Brazil put behind it one of the World Cup's greatest upsets to dominate the competition over the last 50 years.

In France, the national football team has always been the subject of scrutiny and controversy. But this controversy hasn't just been confined to activities on the pitch. Black, White and Blue tells the story of French football's finest hour: how their multi-racial, multi-coloured team succeeded where every other French team had failed by winning the World Cup in 1998, 68 years after another Frenchman, Jules Rimet, had finally seen his vision for a global football tournament realised. Featuring interviews with the greatest names in French footballing history, this programme uncovers the complex relationship between a national team whose successes and uniquely fluid "champagne" football have always drawn heavily on players from immigrant backgrounds.

We see how Argentina emerged from the suffering of military dictatorship and the Falklands War to find a new national self-confidence in the 1980s inspired by the genius of Diego Maradona.

We tell the story of how, from the 1950s to the 1970s, unlikely World Cup successes turned West Germany from the pariahs of European football to its most dominant superpower. And we see how the legacy of the 1954 team's "Miracle of Berne" has motivated German players to strive for World Cup success ever since, including a remarkable comeback in the 1974 final against perhaps the greatest team of the 1970s, the Dutch.

The last programme in the series tells the story of the rise and fall of Italian football and that nation's three World Cup successes. The story is one of success achieved against the odds and frequently in the face of despondency and cynicism among football fans at home.