Documentary .

Explore the phenomenon behind To Kill a Mockingbird and the mysterious life of its Pulitzer Prize-winning author, including why she never published again. The documentary reveals the context and history of the novel’s Deep South setting, and the social changes it inspired after publication. The popular film version, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, leaves an enduring image for the novel’s message. Tom Brokaw, Rosanne Cash, Anna Quindlen, Scott Turow, Oprah Winfrey and others reflect on the novel’s power, influence, popularity, and the ways it has shaped their lives.

Watch American Masters: Harper Lee — Hey Boo, Monday, April 2, 2012 at 9pm.

Watch Harper Lee: Hey, Boo on PBS. See more from American Masters.

Discover the Pulitzer Prize-winning author behind Gone With the Wind, one of the world’s best-selling novels that features two of the world’s great lovers — Scarlett and Rhett — and was adapted into one of the most popular films of all time. No ordinary writer — or woman — Margaret Mitchell was a charismatic force who challenged the stifling Southern social order and struggled with the changing role of women and the liberation of African Americans. She suffered from depression and illness and experienced profound identity shifts during her life, until an accident led to her death in 1949.

Watch American Masters: Margaret Mitchell — American Rebel, Monday, April 2, 2012 at 8pm.

She was the Pride of the British Empire and a leading example of state-of-the art engineering in a time of groundbreaking scientific and technological innovations on a global scale. Yet the RMS Titanic sank less than three hours after striking an iceberg on April 14, 1912. Everyone knows about the many deaths in the icy waters, the fates of the rich and famous on the ship’s maiden voyage and the dramas that played out in the Titanic’s last hours. What is less known is how a team of shipbuilders and engineers attempted to save the stricken vessel. One hundred years after the sinking of the vessel considered unsinkable, SAVING THE TITANIC is the untold story of self-sacrifice and dignity of the ship’s engineers, stokers and firemen in the face of impending death. With an ensemble cast in the roles of the valiant men below deck.

Seeking to answer the question of what happened in the engine and boiler rooms after the collision, SAVING THE TITANIC tells the story of the disaster from below deck, with the action taking place between the time the crew embarked from Southampton until the eventual sinking of the ship. Based upon eyewitness accounts, this is the remarkable story of nine central characters from the engineering crew as they work among the huge, coal-fired furnaces heating the boilers and massive dynamos whirring to satisfy the ship’s demand for electricity. These nine men — among them 18-year-old electrical engineer Albert Ervine (Andrew Simpson) from Belfast and Chief Engineer Joseph Bell (David Wilmot) — fought courageously to hold back the power of the sea and keep the power systems running, even when they learned that all was lost. Most of these men died but their brave actions saved many lives.

Watch Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 9pm.

A FILM BY KEN BURNS & LYNN NOVICK

Thousands of bats, three home run records and one “curse” have been broken since Ken Burns last explored the history of America’s national pastime with his landmark 1994 PBS series BASEBALL. Now, Burns and co-director Lynn Novick update the series with THE TENTH INNING. Beginning with a crippling strike that alienated millions of fans and brought the game to the brink, this new film tells the tumultuous story of our national pastime up to the present. It celebrates baseball’s new Golden Age – an era of unprecedented home run totals, popularity and prosperity – and sheds light on one of the game’s darkest chapters – the steroid era. The two-part, four-hour film examines the compelling stories of Joe Torre, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki, Cal Ripken Jr. and Barry Bonds and features insightful commentary from an eclectic lineup of writers, broadcasters, fans and all-stars.

Watch both parts on Friday, March 30, 2012 at Noon and repeats again at 6pm on KCPT2.