Controversial polemicist Christopher Hitchens makes his return to British television after a four-year absence, presenting the opening film in this season of programmes about Texas.

With a Texan in the White House, espousing Texan values, Hitchens' casts his incisive gaze on the Lone Star State to see what Texas stands for, what this says about America today and what it means for the rest of the world.

In search of the heart, mind and spirit of Texas, he embarks on a journey that takes him to meet oil legend Boon Pickens, singing legend Kinky Friedman and writers Larry McMurtry and John Graves.

It also finds him patrolling the Mexican border with the Border Police boat patrol, on a shooting range with some redneck vigilantes, in a contretemps with a trainer at a football match and kitting himself up as a cowboy.

He finds a state that is truly unique: steeped in a buccanneering mythology it only half understands, while producing an economy that has the government ranged on its side.

At the end of this odyssey, Hitchens reveals the paradox that lies at the centre of Texas: a state which constantly proclaims its confidence in itself - as seen on all those boastful bumper stickers - is likely to suffer from a deep lack of confidence…

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