The Real Godfather Sunday 16 September 2007 2100 BST on BBC Two

Provenzano became a teenage assassin for the Mafia in the 1950s and rose swiftly through the ranks. His reputation for violence was so prolific that he became known as "The Tractor" because, as an informant put it, "he mowed people down".

By 1995 he was reportedly head of the organisation. The Mafia became almost invisible as the high profile murders of the investigating magistrates stopped. But by slipping below the public radar the Mafia turned itself into an organisation which made millions through white collar crime.

The ghost of Corleone

Provenzano knew how to hide: he was so elusive he became known as "The Ghost of Corleone". The only photograph the police had was taken in 1963.

He never communicated by telephone or issued orders directly. Instead he ran his empire through "pizzinis", tiny type-written notes that were passed through dozens of messengers before reaching their final destination, written in a code that became known as "The Provenzano Code."

It was these notes, occasionally intercepted by police, that eventually led to his capture.

This World tells the story of Provenzano's reign, how he managed to escape capture for 43 years, and how the authorities were eventually able to arrest him in a tumbledown farm building, just outside his home town of Corleone, the village made famous by the Godfather films.

It features unique access to the police and judicial team who painstakingly searched for the "real godfather", as well as the first ever interview with Provenzano's two sons.