The best Brian Cox’s documentary movies

What led Arthur Conan Doyle to create, and then destroy the world famous detective, Sherlock Holmes? This compelling drama explores the dark secrets that surround the author and his creation.

Oleg Vidov-one of the Soviet Union's most beloved actors-was persecuted, blacklisted and pushed to the breaking point before escaping to the West and achieving the American dream.

This documentary offers a rare glimpse of the legendary Soviet filmmaker, Andrei Tarkosvky, at work. Tarkovsky made only seven films in his brief, but brilliant, career; Michal Leszczylowski's respectful movie chronicles him at work on his last film, The Sacrifice. Offering insight into Tarkovsky's working methods and transcendental aesthetics, the movie is a compelling account of the difficulties of film production. In the case of an uncompromising and visionary filmmaker like Tarkovsky, the practical problems of filmmaking are only magnified, as cast and crew struggle to realize the ambitious concepts in Tarkovsky's mind.

Brian Cox leads a group of young actors in a workshop exploring techniques in performing Shakesperean tragedy, using Macbeth and Titus Andronicus as example texts.

Using never-before-seen footage, Japan's War In Colour tells a previously untold story. It recounts the history of the Second World War from a Japanese perspective, combining original colour film with letters and diaries written by Japanese people. It tells the story of a nation at war from the diverse perspectives of those who lived through it: the leaders and the ordinary people, the oppressors and the victims, the guilty and the innocent. Until recently, it was believed that no colour film of Japan existed prior to 1945. But specialist research has now unearthed a remarkable colour record from as early as the 1930s. For eight years the Japanese fought what they believed was a Holy War that became a fight to the death. Japan's War In Colour shows how militarism took hold of the Japanese people; describes why Japan felt compelled to attack the West; explains what drove the Japanese to resist the Allies for so long; and, finally, reveals how they dealt with the shame of defeat.

Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace charts the story of a poor Scottish immigrant who sailed to America in the 1840s, and by the end of the century would be the richest man in the world.

Faced by the 2011 earthquake, the fanatical supporters of J-League underdogs Vegalta Sendai challenged their team to win in the name of their fallen friends. The partnership they forged would capture the imagination of the footballing world.