Headhunting

The head represents the core of the personality and to take it is, surely, the most insulting act of violence. Past governments have used decapitation as a deterrent, from the block to the slick and efficient guillotine but the prospect of becoming someone else's trophy is sickening. Headhunting has a long history as a supremely effective weapon - but could this grizzly practice be making a comeback?

Not confined to remote jungles, recent cases are documented in this shocking programme. Such cases include the violence that erupted between two ethnic groups in Borneo in 1999 when one group took to displaying the heads of their neighbours like trophies, as a sign of their aggression. There is also a report on the case of the British telecommunications engineers who were beheaded by Chechnyan rebels in Russia in 1998, a story that made headlines all over the world.

Discover the religious and psychological origins of headhunting - and how this terrifying practice is still being carried out today.

BE WARNED: There are scenes of decapitation in Russia and Borneo, which some viewers may find disturbing.