Secrets of the Dead
Secrets of the Dead | |
---|---|
Genre | Historical documentary |
Narrated by | Roy Scheider Liev Schreiber Jay O. Sanders |
Theme music composer | Michael Montes & Jeff Heffernan |
Country of origin | United States United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 19 (US) |
No. of episodes | 96 (US) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Jared Lipworth |
Producers | Thirteen/WNET Quickfire Media David Johnson Lucy Palmer Five (UK) Channel 4 International(UK) |
Camera setup | multiple |
Running time | 56 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | PBS NJN |
Release | May 15, 2000 present | –
Secrets of the Dead, produced by WNET 13 New York, is an ongoing PBS television series which began in 2000. The show generally follows an investigator or team of investigators exploring what modern science can tell us about some of the great mysteries of history. Most programs incorporate primary source material, first-hand accounts, dramatic reenactments, and computer-generated imagery (CGI) to tell the story. The series originated in a series of the same name in the United Kingdom first shown by Channel 4 in 1999. The first two seasons for each country were broadly similar, but thereafter diverged. The US series includes some programs shown in other Channel 4 series (e.g. Secret History). In the case of original British episodes, PBS re-edited, re-branded and finally re-narrated them with various American voice artists.[1] PBS description: "Scientists seek to uncover celebrated mysteries of the past in this occasional British series."
Episode topics (Which are listed in different order on PBS) have included the Titanic, D-Day, the Shroud of Turin, the Salem Witch Trials, Blackbeard's lost ship, and the first English translations of the Bible.
The PBS series premiered on May 15, 2000, airing four programs in three days (the first episode, concerning the Extreme weather events of 535–536, was a two-parter).[2] Despite an irregular schedule, new episodes continue to air.[3]
Episodes — UK series
Season 1 (1999)
- Ep. 1: "Blood Red Roses" (1999-06-29 — US S4#1)
- Ep. 2: "What Happened to the Hindenburg?" (1999-07-06 — US S1#4)
- Ep. 3: "The Lost Vikings" (1999-07-13 — US S1#3)
- Ep. 4: "Cannibals of the Canyon" (1999-07-20 — US S1#5 "Cannibalism in the Canyon")
- Ep. 5: "Catastrophe – The Day the Sun Went Out" (1999-07-27 — US S1#1)
- Ep. 6: "Catastrophe – How the World Changed" (1999-08-03 — US S1#2)
Season 2 (2000)
- Ep. 1: "Murder at Stonehenge" (2000-07-17 — US S2#2)
- Ep. 2: "The Syphilis Enigma" (2000-07-24 — US S2#6)
- Ep. 3: "Murder in Jamestown" (2000-07-31 — US S2#3 "Death at Jamestown")
- Ep. 4: "Bewitched" (2000-08-07 — US S2#1 "Witches Curse")
- Ep. 5: "Blood on the Altar" (2000-08-14)
- Ep. 6: "What Sank the Mary Rose?" (2000-08-21)
Season 3 (2001)
- Ep. 1: "The Riddle of Pompeii" (2001-02-01)
- Ep. 2: "The Hidden Scrolls of Herculaneum" (2001-02-08)
- Ep. 3: "Gladiator Girl" (2001-05-14)
- Ep. 4: "Sounds from the Stone Age" (2001-11-12)
- Ep. 5: "The First Human?" (2001-11-19 — US S3#1 "Search for the First Human")
- Ep. 6: "Mystery of Zulu Dawn" (2001-12-03 — US S2#4 "Day of the Zulu")
- Ep. 7: "Who Burnt Rome?" (2001-12-10 — US S3#4 "The Great Fire of Rome")
- Ep. 8: "King Midas's Feast" (2001-12-30)
Season 4 (2002)
- Ep. 1: "Riddle of the Plague Survivors" (2002-02-24)
- Ep. 2: "The Birth of the Smart Bomber" (2002-03-03)
- Ep. 3: "Quest for Noah's Flood" (2002-03-16)
Season 5 (2003–04)
- Ep. 1: "Titanic's Ghost" (2003-03-13 — US S3#3)
- Ep. 2: "The Coldest March" (2003-03-20 — US S3#5 "Tragedy at the Pole")
- Ep. 3: "Plague on the Western Front" (2003-03-27)
- Ep. 4: "Shroud of Christ?" (2004-03-29 — US S4#4)
Episodes — US series
Specials (2014-17)
- Ep. 1: "Dick Cavett's Watergate" (2014-08-08)
- Ep. 2: "Secrets of Spanish Florida" (2017-12-26)
- Ep. 3: "America’s Untold Story - Struggle to Survive" (2017-12-26)
- Ep. 4: "America’s Untold Story - Men of God, Men of Greed" (2018-01-02)
- Ep. 5: "America’s Untold Story - The British Are Coming" (2018-01-09)
- Ep. 6: "America’s Untold Story - The 14th and 15th Colonies" (2018-01-18)
Season 1 (2000)
- Ep. 1: "Catastrophe! – The Day the Sun Went Out” Part 1 of 2 (2000-05-15 — UK S1#5) — narrated by Roy Scheider
- Ep. 2: "Catastrophe! – How the World Changed” Part 2 of 2 (2000-05-16 — UK S1#6) — narrated by Roy Scheider
- Ep. 3: "The Lost Vikings" (2000-05-16 — UK S1#3)
- Ep. 4: "What Happened to the Hindenburg?" (2000-05-17 — UK S1#2)
- Ep. 5: "Cannibalism in the Canyon" (2000-05-17 — UK S1#4 "Cannibals of the Canyon")
This season was released on VHS on August 1, 2000.
Season 2 (2001)
- Ep. 1: "Witches Curse" (2001-06-26 — UK S2#4 "Bewitched")
- Ep. 2: "Murder at Stonehenge" (2001-07-03 — UK S2#1)
- Ep. 3: "Death at Jamestown" (2001-07-10 — UK S2#3 "Murder in Jamestown")
- Ep. 4: "Day of the Zulu" (2001-07-17 — UK S3#6 "Mystery of Zulu Dawn")
- Ep. 5: "Tomb of Christ" (2001-07-24)
- Ep. 6: "The Syphilis Enigma" (2001-07-31 — UK S2#2)
This season was released on VHS on July 31, 2001.
Season 3 (2002–03)
- Ep. 1: "Search for the First Human" (2002-05-08 — UK S3#5 "The First Human?")
- Ep. 2: "Mystery of the Black Death" (2002-10-30)
- Ep. 3: "Titanic's Ghosts" (2002-11-20 — UK S5#1)
- Ep. 4: "The Great Fire of Rome" (2002-11-27 — UK S3#7 "Who Burnt Rome?")
- Ep. 5: "Tragedy at the Pole" (2003-01-15 — UK S5#2)
- Ep. 6: "Bombing Nazi Dams" (2003-02-12)
This season was released on VHS on December 3, 2002 and February 25, 2003.
Season 4 (2003–04)
- Ep. 1: "Bridge on the River Kwai" (2003-11-12) [2003-11-18 VHS]
- Ep. 2: "Killer Flu" (2004-03-03 — UK Secret History S6#5) [2004-03-02 VHS]
- Ep. 3: "Shroud of Christ?" (2004-04-07 — UK S5#4) [2004-04-06 VHS]
- Ep. 4: "D-Day" (2004-05-19) [2004-10-26 VHS]
- Ep. 5: "Amazon Warrior Women" (2004-08-04) [2004-08-24 VHS]
Season 5 (2005–06)
- Ep. 1: "The Hunt for Nazi Scientists" (2005-10-19) [2005-10-18 DVD/VHS]
- Ep. 2: "Gangland Graveyard" (2005-11-16) [2006-01-03 DVD/VHS]
- Ep. 3: "Voyage of the Courtesans" (2005-11-23) [2005-11-22 VHS; 2006-01-03 DVD]
- Ep. 4: "The Sinking of the Andrea Doria" (2006-07-26) [2006-09-19 DVD/Video]
- Ep. 5: "Umbrella Assassin" (2006-10-04) [2006-11-14 DVD]
Season 6 (2006–07
1"Dogfight Over Guadalcanal"November 8, 2006
2"Battle for the Bible"April 25, 2007 602 3"Herculaneum Uncovered"May 2, 2007 603 4"Headless Romans"May 9, 2007 604 5"Irish Escape"May 16, 2007 605}}
Season 7 (2008
No. | Title | Original air date | Prod. code |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Aztec Massacre" | April 23, 2008 | 701 |
2 | "Escape from Auschwitz" | April 30, 2008 | 702 ===Season 8 (2008–09=== |
1 | "Doping for Gold" | May 7, 2008 | 801 |
2 | "Sinking Atlantis" | May 14, 2008 | 802 |
3 | "Executed in Error" | October 1, 2008 | 803 |
4 | "Blackbeard's Lost Ship" | April 22, 2009 | 804 |
Season 9 (2009–10
No. | Title | Original air date | Prod. code |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Michelangelo Revealed" | May 13, 2009 | 901 |
2 | "The Airmen and the Headhunters" | November 11, 2009 | 902 |
3 | "Mumbai Massacre" | November 25, 2009 | 903 |
4 | "Japanese SuperSub" | May 5, 2010 | TBA |
Season 10 (2010
}} 1"Churchill's Deadly Decision"May 12, 2010
Soviet Navy officer Vasily Arkhipov's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 2"Bugging Hitler's Soldiers"May 1, 2013 1202 3"Death on the Railroad"May 8, 2013 1203 4"Caveman Cold Case"May 15, 2013 1204 — narrated by Jay O. Sanders 5"Ultimate Tut"July 10, 2013 1205 — 2-hour episode narrated by Jay O. Sanders 6"Bones of the Buddha"July 23, 2013 1206 — host explorer Charles Allen, narrated by Jay O. Sanders (Charles Dance in the UK version
===Season 13 (2013–14=== 1"JFK: One PM Central Standard Time"November 13, 2013 1301 — narrated by George Clooney 2"The Lost Diary of Dr. Livingstone"March 26, 2014 1302 3"Carthage's Lost Warriors"April 2, 2014 1303 4"The Lost Gardens of Babylon"May 6, 2014 1304 5"The Mona Lisa Mystery"July 9, 2014 1305 — written and directed by Klaus T. Steindl
Experts examine the controversy over whether the Isleworth Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci 6"Resurrecting Richard III"September 24, 2014 1306
===Season 14 (2015=== 1"Ben Franklin's Bones"January 28, 2015 1401 {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 2 | Title = JFK & LBJ: A Time for Greatness | OriginalAirDate = August Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "—"., 2015 3"The Real Trojan Horse"October 13, 2015 1402 4"Jamestown's Dark Winter"November 24, 2015 1403
===Season 15 (2015–16=== 1"Vampire Legend"October 27, 2015 1501 2"The Alcatraz Escape"March 29, 2016 1503 3"Cleopatra's Lost Tomb"May 17, 2016 1502 4"Teotihuacán's Lost Kings"May 24, 2016 1504 5"Graveyard of the Giant Beasts"November 2, 2016 1505
===Season 16 (2016–19=== 1"After Stonehenge"October 26, 2016 1601 2"Van Gogh's Ear"December 14, 2016 1602 3"Nero's Sunken City"March 29, 2017 1603
Archaeologists map the underwater ruins of Baiae, ancient Rome's version of Las Vegas 4"Secrets of Spanish Florida"December 26, 2017 AMFC — 2 hours 5"The Woman in the Iron Coffin"October 3, 2018 1605
Forensic experts investigate the preserved remains of a young 19th century New York African American woman and reveal details of early America's free black communities. 6"The Nero Files"February 20, 2019 1606
The life and legend of Nero are examined by a forensic profiler.
===Season 17 (2018–20=== 1"Scanning the Pyramids"January 24, 2018 1701 2"Hannibal in the Alps"April 10, 2018 1702
A team of experts determines which of 4 possible routes was used by Hannibal 3"King Arthur's Lost Kingdom"March 27, 2019 1703
New archaeological evidence that rewrites our understanding of 5th and 6th century Britain might also explain the legend of King Arthur. 4"Egypt's Darkest Hour"April 3, 2019 1704
The discovery of a rare mass grave with the bones of nearly 60 people outside Luxor sends archaeologists on a quest to find out who the remains belong to, why they were buried the way they were and what was happening in ancient Egypt that would have led to a mass burial. 5"World War Speed"June 25, 2019 1705
Historian James Holland, on his quest to understand how the use of amphetamines affected the course of World War II and unleashed “the world's first pharmacological arms race.”[4] Shown in the UK on BBC Four as a standalone, Aug 29, 2019.[5] {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 6 | Title = Abandoning the Titanic | OriginalAirDate = November Expression error: Unrecognized word "br"., 2020 1"Galileo's Moon"July 2, 2019 1801
When it was published in 1610, Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger set in motion a scientific revolution.[7] 2"Bombing Auschwitz"January 21, 2020 1802
On December 3, 1944, The Washington Post published an editorial on the atrocities in Auschwitz with the headline “Genocide,” marking the first time the word appeared in a national newspaper.[8] 3"Building Notre Dame"April 28, 2020 1803
An in-depth investigation is made into the centuries-long construction of Notre Dame de Paris. 4"Viking Warrior Queen"July 7, 2020 1804
An examination of Birka's grave Bj 581 reveals that the remains of the warrior buried inside are female. 5"Gangster's Gold"November 18, 2020 1805
In New York City, treasure hunters look for the trunk of money and diamonds buried by gangster Dutch Schultz in 1935. 6"The End of the Romans"October 26, 2022 1806
===Season 19 (2021=== 1"Magellan's Crossing"October 20, 2021 1901 2"Lady Sapiens"October 27, 2021 1902 3"The First Circle of Stonehenge"November 3, 2021 1903 4"Hindenburg's Fatal Flaws"November 10, 2021 1904 5"A Samurai in the Vatican"November 17, 2021 1905 6"The Caravaggio Heist"November 24, 2021 1906
===Season 20 (2022–23=== 1"Archaeology at Althorp"October 9, 2022 2001 2"Last Days of Pompeii"October 19, 2022 2002 3"Decoding Hieroglyphics"November 2, 2022 2003 4"Hidden in the Amazon"November 9, 2022 2004 5"The Sunken Basilica"October 11, 2023 2005 6"Jurassic Fortunes"October 18, 2023 2006
===Season 21 (2023=== 1"Eiffel's Race to the Top"October 25, 2023 2007 2"Death in Britannia"November 1, 2023 2008 {{Episode list | EpisodeNumber = 3 | Title = Princes in the Tower | OriginalAirDate = November 22, 2023 | ShortSummary = | LineColor = 000 | ProdCode = 2009
References
- ^ "Secrets of the Dead (TV series)". ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011.
- ^ Wertheimer, Ron (2000-05-15). "Television Review; A Seance in 4 Parts, With Narration". The New York Times.
- ^ Lee, Felicia R. (2008-04-23). "Going for the Grisly Gives a Show Staying Power". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ^ "World War Speed | World War Speed: About the Film | Secrets of the Dead | PBS". Secrets of the Dead. 2019. Retrieved 2019.
{{cite web}}
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(help); Text "10" ignored (help); Text "11" ignored (help); Text "5" ignored (help); Text "8" ignored (help) - ^ "BBC Programme Index".
- ^ "Abandoning the Titanic". Secrets of the Dead. PBS. 6 October 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
- ^ "Galileo's Moon | Galileo's Moon: About the Film | Secrets of the Dead | PBS". Secrets of the Dead. 2019. Retrieved 2019.
{{cite web}}
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(help); Text "10" ignored (help); Text "11" ignored (help); Text "5" ignored (help); Text "8" ignored (help) - ^ "Bombing Auschwitz | Bombing Auschwitz: About the Film | Secrets of the Dead | PBS". Secrets of the Dead. 2019. Retrieved 2020.
{{cite web}}
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(help); Text "1" ignored (help); Text "11" ignored (help); Text "18" ignored (help); Text "20" ignored (help) - ^ https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/episodes/