His very name became synonymous with political terrorism in the 1970's. His legend was larger than life. He was said to be the master-mind behind terrorist attacks on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, the hijacking of an El Al jet at Entebbe, Uganda and the bombing of Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland. Now, over six years after his dramatic arrest in the Sudan by French Secret Agents, the real story of Carlos the Jackal can finally be told.

It's a fascinating tale of how a young, overweight Venezuelan boy born Ilich Ramirez Sanchez transformed himself into a swaggering, cold-blooded killer. This programme will also separate the man from the legend. The portrait that emerges is a complicated one that shows Carlos to be better at burnishing his own myth than at championing the cause of Palestinian independence through acts of terror.