Originally created for the UK by FremantleMedia’s production company talkbackTHAMES, Poisoned aired on Sky One in April 2005. The documentary focuses on the peculiar fascination with poisoning as a means of assassination in Russia and the former Soviet countries, starting with the recent, brutal poisoning of Ukrainian President Victor Yuschenko during the bitterly fought 2004 election campaign. Yuschenko was well on his way toward securing his nation’s presidency when the handsome candidate was left permanently disfigured by dioxin poisoning. Interviews with Yuschenko’s doctors, former KGB agents, and toxicologists explain how Yuschenko was poisoned; showcase the methods used to poison other major figures in the past; and reveal why poison has been used so frequently in Russia’s history.