Film & TV Database

Three documentaries. 1 of 3: Professor Winston investigates the risks for siblings in the womb and at birth, and the extraordinary similarities in character traits evident even in twins separated at birth - lending credence to the controversial theory that nature is stronger than nurture.

A three-part series in which Professor Robert Winston studies the life of twins. By examining the case histories of a number of identical twins, the programmes reveal new evidence about the role of genetics and socialisation in the development of human beings. The first programme covers some of the many aspects of "twindom", from two women who are expecting twins to the American festival where 3,000 identical twins gather. The stories of twins who both developed a cancer on their ear at the same time, "mirror" twins who look alike but one is left-handed, the other right-handed and so, and Siamese twins, Lori and Reba Schappell, who are joined at the head also feature. In programme two, Professor Winston uses the behavioural similarities exhibited by twins who were separated at birth and reunited in adulthood to examine the influence genes have in shaping personalities. In the final programme, he looks at the differences that occur in twins in spite of biological similarities. A set of twin sisters who enjoy the same clubs, music and fashion are shown to have different tastes in partners, and a biographer of the Kray twins discusses his belief that it was only the influence of one brother that led the other into a life of crime.