Episode list

Anthony Head, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, investigates vampires from historical fiction through to terrifying modern-day realism. Vampires have been with us since the dawn of time and we all know about them, familiar to us since childhood as standard characters of fiction and guaranteed box-office attractions. But what exactly are these blood-sucking creatures? And why and how do they instill such fear? Anthony Head interviews scientists, historians and a vampire expert in an attempt to understand why there continues to be a widespread belief in vampires. In order to delve deeply into our fascination with folklore's deadliest monster, he travels to the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, an area closely identified with the creature, and meets an expert who explains the intricacies of impalement. He investigates the story of the Blood Countess who bathed in the blood of slaughtered young virgins in order to retain her beauty. He also discovers how the stories of Dracula and Nosferatu have become intertwined with facts, and finally he looks at London's Highgate Cemetery where supposed supernatural vampirical activity has taken place.

Anthony Head, international actor and star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sets out to find out the truth behind the werewolf myth. Are they real or just the stuff of myth, folklore and Hollywood movies? Most of us are familiar with the idea of a werewolf: someone who can change into a wolf-like creature with an appetite for blood, but how did these tales come about and how have they been accepted as fact? Anthony Head travels around Europe, first to Greece where he delves into a 2,000-year-old account of werewolves and human sacrifice, and then to France where he uncovers the medieval tale of the most devastating attack by a werewolf - the Beast of Gévaudan - who tore off the heads of his victims. But not all tales come from the past and a modern tale of one of these terrifying beasts is revealed by Anthony Head. He meets with werewolf experts and discusses the possibility of whether werewolves are a form of delusion and a product of a disturbed mind, a person with a genetic problem, or shape-shifting monsters.

For hundreds of years, witchcraft has been associated with evil but what is the truth behind one of the best-known figures of the supernatural? We all know that practically every fairy story has a witch in it somewhere and that in the past people were burnt at the stake for being a witch. Shakespeare developed the three witches in Macbeth to be vulgar instruments of evil. But that was then - what about now? Anthony Head, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, embarks on a journey that takes him from the Thames in London, to Scotland, and finally to South Africa where the fear of witches is still very strong and various forms of witchcraft are still practised. He joins a police division that deals with crimes of the occult before heading to a Durban herb market and discovering some shocking items for sale. At a traditional Zulu healer's graduation, Anthony Head comes across more disturbing scenes and later learns about the specific uses for different parts of the body.