"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." - Adam Curtis

"The story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires."

More at www.bbc.co.uk

Watch all four episodes online:

• The Century of the Self - Part 1
• The Century of the self - Part 2
• The Century of the Self 3 of 4
• The Century of the self - Part 4