Timewatch

In this edition, the continuing controversy surrounding the war-time role of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Victims of a bad press, they remained tactfully silent, but now answer back through Maitre Blum their lawyer, who gives her first television interview.

Operation Hurricane, Britain's first atomic test, took place 30 years ago. Film of that secret explosion has been specially declassified by the Ministry of Defence for Timewatch.

And Chatham Dockyard, now under threat of Government closure, the story of its contribution to naval history from the Armada to HMS Victory, to the Falklands.

The China of the Manchu Emperors and the signing of the treaties which gave Britain Hong Kong. Why do the Chinese regard these treaties as unequal?

Scotland and the great witch hunt of the 17th century: Marina Warner reports on the thousand women who were strangled or burnt. Was this persecution a political act by James VI which got out of hand? Why was it directed at women?

The recently discovered diary of a Lancashire weaver John O'Neil who, a century ago, recorded his experiences as an early trades union leader in the recession of the 1860s.

And new research on the founding father of the Irish Republic, Eammon De Valera. Was he as committed to a united Ireland as was always believed, or was he prepared to compromise?

In this edition, ' if the Spanish Armada had landed ...'

What would have happened if on Monday 7 August 1558 a Spanish Army had marched on London from the invasion beaches of Margate? Timewatch re-examines the fate of the 16th-century Spanish task force and asks how close did it come to success?

What Makes Begin Tick?

Vladimir Jabotinsky was the philosopher behind the fighting Jew and is the man whom Menachem Begin considers his mentor. Timewatch examines the vision of Jabotinsky and its influence on Begin both in his early life and in his years as Britain's most wanted terrorist.

And Llywelyn ap Gruffydd-the first and last independent Prince of Wales. Simon Winchester tells his story and assesses his important place in Welsh nationalism today.

The monthly history show that looks at the present in the light of the past and re-examines historical reputation. Among the items in December's programme:

Sir Thomas More , who lost his head on the scaffold in 1535. In 1937 he was made a saint. Now the heroic reputation of the ' man for all seasons' is under attack. Timewatch looks again at the life of a Tudor statesman.

Unemployment in Britain 150 years ago when the workhouse became the symbol of oppression and poverty that lasted over a century. Bernard Clark investigates the Poor Law of 1834, designed to cut spending on the poor and unemployed and which left bitter memories for generations.

And the Russian spy scare of 1927 when the British Cabinet unwittingly betrayed to Moscow the code-breaking secrets of British intelligence.