The BBC is to recreate the Nuremberg trials for a three-part series to mark the event's 60th anniversary.

The hour-long docu-dramas will be made in partnership with Discovery and will be shown on BBC Two later this year. The project is provisionally titled The Nuremberg Trial: Inside the Nazi Mind.

Executive producer John Farren promised exciting results. "This will be a dialogue driven and actor-led drama documentary series," he explained. "Thoroughly well researched, the series is sure to prove gripping television."

Series producer Detlef Siebert said the shows would look further into the events at Nuremberg than any programme has before. He commented: "This series offers a unique chance to delve into the minds of the Nazi leadership.

"Rather than relying on the trial transcripts alone, we have unearthed a large number of other sources, which uncover what was going on behind the scenes of the trial.

"We can show what top Nazis like Goering, Speer or Hess revealed during their interrogations or in confidential conversations with psychologists or their co-defendants."