Still known and admired for her subversive, censor-baiting wit, the legendary Mae West took showbusiness by storm and left scarcely an entertainment medium unconquered. During a colourful career that spanned eight decades of the twentieth century, she left her inimitable mark on vaudeville, Broadway, the Las Vegas nightclub scene and, not least, Hollywood.

No stranger to controversy, she never shied away from complex social issues, and, in her own unique fashion, waged a slyly effective war on moral hypocrisy. This first major documentary on Mae West’s life and work, MAE WEST: DIRTY BLONDE (Friday 30th, 10.40pm) examines how this multi-talented writer and performer “climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong” in a more restrictive era, and played her part in creating social change.