In 1971, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE ceased to be part of Britain's empire in the Middle East and became fully independent states. This film, a collaboration between BBC News Arabic and BBC News Persian, uncovers the secrets that lay behind the process of decolonisation. The story has never been told as a full-length documentary. Among the film's revelations are newly discovered documents showing how the UK and Iran secretly agreed on the handover to Iran of three strategic islands that the emergent UAE regarded as its own. The documentary also includes, for the first time on film, eye-witness accounts of a British-organised coup d'état against Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan al Qassemi of Sharjah. Rare archive footage from Britain's colonial days and dramatic reconstructions help bring these long-buried secrets to life.