The hit syndicated TV series The First 48 hours explores the world of law enforcement in what is claimed to be the crucial 48 hours after a crime has been committed. With each passing hour the trail grows colder, witnesses become harder to locate, evidence may become obscured, the case becomes much harder to solve. It is an absorbing TV program, and much kudos should be heaped on it.

An equally compelling, but much less known DVD series is the ‘Final 24’. This documentary series looks at the final 24 hours of some well known figures in both the world of the music and movie industry together with other well known names.

To date I have watched a number of these DVD’s and enjoyed them a great deal. They are not the ‘slapped together’ drivel that I have learned to avoid, the documentary or book that is suddenly on the store shelf a week after a famous person dies! These have been carefully researched, and in preference to the all too common ‘talking heads’ found on TV, actually use interviews with people that were there! When you combine this with archival footage you have a series that it truly interesting and illuminating.

It cannot be argued that the facts are not the facts, a person is dead, but I want to know what led up to ‘The Facts’. There are reasons for many of the actions that people take, and also the repercussions. Why did John Belushi, a man that everyone viewed as a comic genius die from a huge overdose of Heroin mixed with Cocaine?

A court fight that continues to this day concerns the estate of Anna Nicole Smith, how  and why did she die?

I an no fan of Punk Rock, but what is the story behind Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols?

These are just three examples.

I am a fan of history, but I like my history served raw! A good friend of mine is Don Bracken of HPC, his publishing house is small and niche, he calls his genre ‘living history’. You will find no regurgitation of ancient texts, every book has to have original material from people that were there!

I view the Final 24 series in the same way. They are ‘living history’.

Here are a few links:

Jim Morrison – His Final Hours

Sid Vicious – His Final Hours

Gianni Versace – Final 24: His Final Hours

Nicole Brown Simpson – Her Final Hours

Janis Joplin – Final 24: Her Final Hours

Keith Moon – Final 24: His Final Hours

Marvin Gaye – Final 24: His Final Hours

River Phoenix – His Final Hours -  Final 24

Hunter S. Thompson – His Final Hours – Final 24

Anna Nicole Smith Her Final Hours

John Belushi – His Final Hours

Simon Barrett

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