Tuesday Documentary - Season 9 / Year 1982

Millions of Americans are determined to live through what they foresee as an inevitable nuclear war. Others are heading for camps in the remote back-country to escape the chaos of an impending political or economic cataclysm. 

They sing hymns, chant psalms of war, preach the survival of the fittest and arm themselves to the teeth. They are the Survivalists.... 

This film talks to women training with machine guns, to undergraduates taking courses in How to Stay Alive, to retired generals who run schools for mercenary killers, and to self-appointed clergy who say their native America has 'gone soft on the Devil and the Reds' and has become a 'Disneyland for Dummies'.

Motor race, fun-fair, sponsors' bonanza, death trap. Whatever it is, the 24-hour race at Le Mans has become a legend; for the driver, just to finish is an achievement; for the fans, to be there is a unique experience. For the race marshals and police there is little chance to relax, for when tragedy strikes it can be swift and terrible. Last year, during one of the hottest weekends in the history of the race, reporter Jack Pizzey joined the 250,000 spectators. He followed the fortunes of two British entrants. One was Guy Edwards, the former Grand Prix driver who made the headlines when he rescued Niki Lauda from a blazing wreck in 1976. Now he is one of the most successful businessmen-drivers on the road racing circuit. The other was Alain de Cadenet, who with little backing has made 11 attempts, and is dedicated to winning Le Mans.

Hollywood is still the home of the American Dream - the place where fame and fortune can be achieved overnight. Or so the story goes. For some it does come true. In this status conscious town Barry Norman looks at the attitudes towards success and failure among the famous and not quite so famous. 

With Ali MacGraw, Angie Dickinson, Henry Winkler, Charlton Heston, Christopher Atkins and Linda Evans.