We are often unaware of the sugar content of foods as it is added to many processed foods such as sauces, breakfast cereals, health and energy bars, yoghurt, milky drinks, instant coffee, flavoured coffee sachets and rusks.

But where did it start – how did we become so hooked on sugar?

Revealing the rich and controversial past of sugar, alcohol, tobacco and opium, Hollywood actor Brian Cox embarks on a thought-provoking journey to uncover how the commercial exploitation of these products hooked the rest of the world on an appetite for a good time.