BBC Select is a brand new streaming channel with critically acclaimed documentaries, many new and exclusive to the US and Canada.

The true crime case of a maverick art dealer who executed an audacious swindle

The $50m Art Swindle: streaming on BBC Select on April 5th via the Apple TV app & Amazon Prime Video Channels

Michel Cohen was a high school drop-out who rose to become a top art dealer. He sold paintings by Picasso, Chagall and Monet to America’s elite. But after running up debts, he swindled his customers out of more than $50 million and then went on the run. The FBI couldn’t find him, but filmmaker Vanessa Engle tracks Cohen down and persuades him to tell his extraordinary story.

Start your free trial today

In the US BBC Select is available on Amazon Prime Video Channels and the Apple TV app for only $4.99 a month. Start your free 7-day trial today to enjoy BBC Select on Smart TVs, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. Restrictions apply*.

Get started

BBC Select focuses on the big stories that shape our world as well as the small details that make life so interesting. Immerse yourself in award-winning programs, offering fresh perspectives and ideas from a diverse array of voices across culture, politics and ideas.

Our Shows

Subscribe to BBC Select for hundreds of hours of thought-provoking programs, award-winning series and critically-acclaimed titles featuring a diverse range of voices from around the world, many available in the US and Canada for the first time.

Culture

In Search of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo’s face is iconic. Musician Emeli Sandé uncovers the woman behind the art.

Fred Sirieix stands with his staff in front of a hotel

Extraordinary Places to Eat

They’re the experts who know food like no one else. These are the restaurants they love.

Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer kiss on their wedding day surrounded by members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Charles and Di – The Truth Behind Their Wedding

The real story of The Crown: the seven days leading up to the marriage of Charles and Diana

Shock of The Nude

Peek behind the fig leaf to find the truth behind the nude in art.

The Mystery of the Missing Princess

The staggering story of the Middle Eastern princess attempting to escape her life.

Politics

A member of the Patriot Prayer group and Mobeen Azhar stand facing each other

A Black and White Killing

A murder that shook America to its core. What’s behind alleged racist killings in the U.S.?

Fall of an Icon

Why is an iconic Nobel Peace Prize winner fighting accusations of genocide?

Putin – A Russian Spy Story

He wanted to be a Russian James Bond. His presidency reads like a spy thriller.

Rupert Murdoch against a black background

The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty

A story of succession. Rupert Murdoch and the sibling rivalry to inherit his empire.

Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners

People as property: historian David Olusoga on the untold stories of British slavery.

Ideas

Louis Theroux: Selling Sex

Oldest profession, new rules. Louis Theroux gets between the sheets of the sex industry.

Genderquake

Gender fluid generation: Meet the people challenging the binary.

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace

We were sold technology as a Utopia. The dream failed, says Adam Curtis: the machines won.

Grayson Perry’s Big American Roadtrip

Britain’s most unpredictable artist, Grayson Perry, sits America down for its portrait.

Ajamu X holding a camera with standing subject's legs in foreground

Me and My Penis

Penises. What’s it like to have one? Lose one? Want one? Taboo-shattering TV.

The Drop

Each week, The Drop offers fresh perspectives on a culturally-relevant topic and puts it under a magnifying glass. Explore themes such as war, parenthood, beauty and A.I. with leading thinkers from across the globe and brilliant programs from the BBC and beyond.

This week’s drop

Start the week as a rookie and end it as an expert with BBC Select’s brilliant voices. We bring together global experts and enlightened thinkers.

Alicia Garza looking into camera in front of a dark background — Alicia Garza
Principal at *Black Futures Lab* and Co-founder of *The Black Lives Matter Global Network*, Alicia empowers communities to be a force for change.

Roxane Gay looking into camera in front of a dark background — Roxane Gay
Multiple award-winning author and *New York Times* contributing writer, whose takes on identity and culture traverse literature, journalism and film.

Malcolm Gladwell looking into camera in front of a dark background — Malcolm Gladwell
Listed in the *TIME 100 Most Influential People List* and author of five international bestsellers, including global blockbusters Blink and Outliers.