Beyond the Towers
From Monday 16 August 9.30pm
Mass murder in New York and Washington by the Al Qaeda terrorist group, led by Osama bin Laden, propelled the United States and its allies, including Australia, into a 20 year war in Afghanistan which they could not win.
Within weeks of the 9/11 attacks the United States led an invasion of Afghanistan. Quick victories – within months routing the Taliban government and Al Qaeda – led to flawed decision-making in Washington. Rejecting advice from military leaders – the administration of President George W. Bush was overly confident that it could control the country with air power and a minimum of “boots on the ground”.
Afghanistan, dominated by powerful warlords with private militias, riven by ethnic and religious tensions and corrupted by the opium industry was a mystery to the invaders . The invaders failed to build a stable national government or, over many years, train reliable security forces.
Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden survived the US invasion by retreating across the border to Pakistan. While officially the Pakistan government was a committed partner in the US declared global “war on terror” in fact sections of the army and the powerful intelligence service, the ISI, were committed to defeating the US. They recruited and re-armed foot soldiers for the Taliban. As the United States became “bogged down” in Iraq after the 2003 invasion the Taliban progressively re-grouped in Afghanistan, gaining territory and becoming a constant threat to the Afghan government.
Afghanistan was to become America’s longest war. In 2020 President Donald Trump agreed to a humiliating deal with the Taliban – negotiations from which the Afghan government were excluded – allowing for the US to withdraw its last remaining troops. Afghanistan in 2021 is once again a haven for Al Qaeda, Islamic State and a host of other Islamic terrorist groups. Overall American power and prestige have been diminished by the Afghan war.
The Trial of Christine Keeler
From Saturday 21 August 8.20pm
Tells the story of how 19-year-old Christine Keeler found herself at the heart of a political sex scandal that rocked the British government in the 1960s. Based on real events.
Inspired by real events, the six-part series The Trial of Christine Keeler tells the story of 19-yearold Christine Keeler, who was at the centre of the political sex scandal that rocked the British government in the 60s.
Starring Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Gypsy), James Norton (Happy Valley, McMafia) and Ben Miles (The Crown), the series takes viewers behind the headlines to tell a human story about the sexual and cultural politics of one of the most revealing and iconic stories of modern times.
When the British Secretary of State for War John Profumo (Ben Miles), started an extramarital affair with Christine Keeler (Sophie Cookson) a much younger woman, it sparked a chain of events that came to be known around the world as the Profumo affair. The powerful, male dominated establishment at the time sought to silence and exploit Christine. But Christine had other ideas and she refused to play by their rules. The repercussions of the affair would shake the establishment to its core.
Written by BAFTA award-winning novelist and screenwriter Amanda Coe (Apple Tree Yard, Room at the Top, Life in Squares) and directed by Andrea Harkin (Come Home, Clique), The Trial of Christine Keeler, takes a fresh look at one of the most infamous British stories