Secrets of the Dead poster

TV series

Secrets of the Dead

2000NR23 seasons6.4 / 10

Unearthing History

Part detective story, part true-life drama, long-running series explores some of the most iconic moments in history to debunk myths and shed new light on past events. Using the latest investigative techniques, forensic science and historical examination, it shatters accepted wisdom, challenges prevailing ideas, overturns existing hypotheses, spotlights forgotten mysteries, and ultimately rewrites history.

Availability

Not streaming in United States

Secrets of the Dead premiered May 15, 2000. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.

Synopsis

Part detective story, part true-life drama, long-running series explores some of the most iconic moments in history to debunk myths and shed new light on past events. Using the latest investigative techniques, forensic science and historical examination, it shatters accepted wisdom, challenges prevailing ideas, overturns existing hypotheses, spotlights forgotten mysteries, and ultimately rewrites history.

Season 9 episodes

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Episode 1

Michelangelo Revealed

More than five centuries ago, Michelangelo Buonarroti was the darling of the Catholic Church. The Papacy commissioned him to create many of its most important pieces, including the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. He spent his life glorifying the Church, etching Catholic ideals into masterpieces that defined religion for the masses. Yet when he died, his body was secretly shepherded off to Florence, and the Church was denied the opportunity to honor him with a grand funeral in Rome. Historians have long wondered about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, but now, art historian Antonio Forcellino believes he has pieced together evidence of a deep rift between the Church and the esteemed artist. The cause: Michelangelo’s belief in Protestant ideals, and his involvement with a clandestine fellowship trying to put an end to the decadence and corruption of the Clergy and reform the Church from within.

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Episode 2

Airmen and the Headhunters

A tribe in Borneo protects a shot-down U.S. bomber crew from Japanese occupiers during World War II. The local missionaries, who converted the tribe to Christianity, were executed by the Japanese invaders, who had forced out Dutch and British colonialists, while massacring Borneo natives. A surviving missionary from Indonesia, employed by the Japanese military as an area administrator, outwits Japanese forces by hiding the U.S. airmen deep in a jungle canyon. The local Dayak people risk their lives, and force the occupiers to abandon their hunt for the airmen, using blowpipes and machetes against the Japanese army search parties.

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Episode 3

Mumbai Massacre

Accounts of the survivors of the indiscriminate terrorist massacres in Mumbai by Islamic Extremests in November 2008 and how the news media aided the terrorist by giving away the hiding places of the soon to be victims.

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Episode 4

Japanese SuperSub

During World War 2, Japan developed a super-submarine capable of launching bomber aircraft as a strategic weapon to carry the conflict to the United States mainland. But in the rapidly changing Pacific Theater, one intended mission after another becomes obsolete before the submarines can be deployed

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Episode 6

Deadliest Battle

finale

The Battle of Stalingrad, the deadliest single battle ever seen, has been lauded as a shining example of Stalin's military genius, and altered the course of World War II permanently. The battle established the Soviet Union as a superpower to be reckoned with in the long Cold War that lay ahead. More than a half-century later, with newly uncovered evidence the full impact of this horrific battle is revealed.

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Episode information updated Jul 24, 2026

More about Secrets of the Dead

Cast

Liev SchreiberNarrator
Roy ScheiderNarrator
Georgi Markov
Ian KnightHimself - Historian
Tony PollardHimself - Archaeologist
Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimballherself
Linnda R. Caporaelherself
Addison Bainhimself

Credits

Written by
Ken Chowder

Production details

Status
Returning Series
Series type
Documentary
Episodes
123
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • PBSUnited States
  • ThirteenUnited States

Themes

archaeologyexaminationresearch