Endgame News

AS SEEN IN: " Endgame " AS PLAYED BY: William Hurt Willem Petrus "Willie" Esterhuyse was a university professor active in enlisting other Afrikaners to the anti-apartheid cause when he assumed a role in opening the dialogue between the exiled African National Congress and South Africa's apartheid government in the late 1980s.

AS SEEN IN: " Endgame " AS PLAYED BY: Mark Strong Political scientist turned spy chief Lukas Daniel "Niel" Barnard was just 31 when he became a full university professor.

Billed as the end of the world, '2012' is an epic example of what could happen if the sun's solar activity one day microwaves the Earth's insides.

" Endgame " AS PLAYED BY: Chiwetel Ejiofor The child of teachers-activists, Thabo Mbeki has said he was "born into the struggle," and got involved in political activism at a young age.

While most people are well aware of the years of civil unrest which led to the demise of Apartheid in 1994, not as many know about the secret talks that simultaneously transpired for almost a decade between the South African government and the African National Congress , the political party spearheading the independence movement.

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; Therefore, we are saved by hope.

British film has something of a corner in an unremarked new movie trend: the low-budget, cinema-verite, fact-based historical drama filmed as political thriller.

The Mayan calendar ends in December of 2012 and there are widespread beliefs it will come with massive destruction and that a transformation will take place around the world to change civilization as we know it.

Garden Smart In Vail, Colorado, the episode visits the highest elevation botanical garden in North America and it provides many gardening lessons.

Bitty Schram, left, may not have the cachet of past guest stars on "Monk" , but die-hard fans will be delighted to see her reprise her role as Sharona, the detective's original assistant.

In White Collar , a charming con artist named Neal breaks out of prison to find his true love.

The traditional feature-film release cycle is to start on movie screens and then move to television via DVDs, cable or network broadcasts.

The continuing saga of Cloud, the wild, white stallion now in his prime, returns viewers to the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana.

As South Africa seethed under apartheid, an Englishman held secret conferences. He put white leaders alongside Thabo Mbeki, who would later follow Nelson Mandela as president.

Some two decades ago, as this newspaper's correspondent in South Africa, I watched apartheid crumble and Nelson Mandela walk free from prison.

South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup, a feat that 25 years ago would have seemed about as likely as a capitalist Russia or a black president of the United States.

Sometimes, words speak louder than actions. So it was at the secret mid-1980s rendezvous that put the end of apartheid in motion.

Endgame: A "Masterpiece Contemporary" presentation, starring Jonny Lee Miller and William Hurt.

Program: Masterpiece Classic "Endgame" When: Sunday, October 25, at 8 p.m. Endgame is the true story of the covert discussions that led to the release of Nelson Mandela, the end of apartheid, and the eventual first democratic election of 1994.

Endgame In theaters: November 6, 2009 South Africa, 1985. While the country is under siege, sanctions are biting, Mandela's imprisonment is an international cause celebré, and the ANC guerrilla terrorist attacks are escalating.