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Mystery Files Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 2010 - 2010
Episode 1
Nostradamus
25 mins
The French astrologer Nostradamus remains most famous, still often consulted to apply his thousands of 'prophecies' to modern history. In his day, he was a medical and astronomy student at Montpellier university but probably dropped out to practice healing in Agen and later became the astrologer of the elite, up to the court of Renaissance king Henry II. Harsh criticism from contemporary colleagues, who were numerous, may be mainly jealousy, but his horoscopes were not only often wrong, partially attributable to human free will, but also shoddy even by astrologer standards, simply miscalculating birth charts.
Episode 2
Jack the Ripper
26 mins
How do we get close to a killer the police haven't been able to identify for over 100 years? With the help of renowned British crime historians and authors applying modern techniques, "Mystery Files" unearths new evidence to eliminate an age-old suspect, and to discover a new, likely candidate who was right under the policemen's nose.
Episode 3
Robin Hood
26 mins
Historians search for the real events behind the many versions of the stories about Robin Hood and his merry men. Robin was so legendary in his own day that his name became a passed-own alias. The earliest records of both historical characters and 'ballads' point to two real robbers, in the 13th and 14 century, a Robin and a Robert. Each operated in the sire of a lewd sheriff of Nottingham but also had roots in neighboring York, in each case administered by the same sheriff, with whom each had a personal feud. Specifics about either regain largely speculative.
Episode 4
Princes in the Tower
25 mins
The Shakespearian view on king Richard III as murderer of his brother and predecessor Edward IV's two teenage sons during their stay in the Tower of London is questioned, discarded as part of Elisabethan propaganda trough lies, such as Richard being a hunchback. Alternative theories are considered, such as the king's rival at court, the duke of Buckingham, who would also have set up Richard as murderer as a bonus, or even then distant claimant Henry Tudor -on account of his wife, in a female line of the royal dynasty- as moves to eliminate potential contestants of their own claims to the throne. Later revolts where lead by pretenders claiming to be prince Richard duke of York, as even the brother's death wasn't proven conclusively.
Episode 5
Rasputin
26 mins
Exploring the various different accounts surrounding the death of Rasputin.
Episode 6
Billy the Kid
26 mins
William 'Billy the Kid' Brady is presented in legend as either a Robin Hood of the Wild West or the most wanted thieving monster, but neither fits modern research of the real man. He made his name during the 'Lincoln county war', when local business competitors hired guns for their dirty power play, and the regulators were put in charge of order. Billy really was a kid, a teenager making wrong choices sealing his fate. He was convicted for a murder, wanted (not top of the list) and naively accepted a pardon offered by New Mexico territorial governor Wallace but withdrawn after the political wind changed, but entered legend by escaping the noose.
Episode 7
King Arthur
24 mins
There are many versions of the Arthurian legend, including Mallory's from the fifteenth century, which 'transcribed' it in terms of showcase tournament chivalry. Historians and archaeologists consider historical figures and places which might have served as actual inspiration for king Arthur, Camelot and other court and even magical elements. One focuses on the 5the century Roman-Celtic warlord Ambrosius at castle Tintagel, wielding an Excalibur-type sword to fight off the Saxon invaders in Britain. Another is Briton king Riothanus, whose fleet brought his troops to Gaul to join legionaries fighting off king Euric's Visigoths, possibly buried in Avalon. Either legend includes a traitor who might inspire Mordred.
Episode 8
Leonardo Da Vinci
24 mins
Leonardo da Vinci is often presented as the greatest inventor of renaissance or even all time, but modern research shows that although extraordinarily studious and erudite, he was usually inspired of just varying on older inventors, often forgotten, and his own designs rarely would have worked at all. However has artistic genius, notably as painter, remains unequaled notably in his Multi-layer-technique.
Episode 9
Abraham Lincoln
24 mins
Over time, Abraham Lincoln's status has risen to almost mythic proportions, but what's the real story behind the legend?
Episode 10
Cleopatra
26 mins
Egypt's last queen from the Macedonian dynasty of the Lagids, descended from Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy, managed to win the struggle for the Pharaonic throne from her brother-spouse by seducing Julius Caesar, who took control of strategic granary Egypt during his triumvirate's civil war, so as to be maintained as client queen. After Caesar's political murder in Rome for founding a virtual monarchy, she sides with Marc Anthony, whom she seduced, only to perish with him in suicide after Octavian's victory in the next civil war. But did she seduce such astute general-statesmen, just by female charms, decadent opulence and her erudite schooling, or did they believe she was a priceless lay as an Egyptian living exotic divinity?
Episode 11
The Man in the Iron Mask
26 mins
The literary horror classic theme traces to Voltaire, the Illumination author 'philosopher' who who was a bitter enemy of Louis XIV's absolute monarchy. He had himself been a victim himself for three years of the 'lettre de cachet', a practice which gave the crown discretionary powers to have any subject arrested and incarcerated indefinitely without form of trial. Secret prisons in desolate fortresses are documented, as author St. Mars was governor under war minster Louvois, as well as anonymous prisoners and even masks, but an iron mask for years would have been fatal by infection. For a royal brother there are no indications, as royal births were very public court events.
Episode 12
The Romanovs
26 mins
Last Russian emperor ('czar') Nicholas and his five kids (weakling heir and four girls) were revered by the simpleton Russian people like saints, until the Great War turned out disastrous and the imperial commander in chief was blamed for national misery. The Menshevik revolution brought peace by capitulation to the German empire and a quiet revolution, the dynasty being 'bannished' to a luxury palace. But Lenin's Bolsheviks seize power and ordered the 'tyrant' imprisoned to desolate, hostile Ekaterinaburg, guarded by a zealot captain. The czar's cousin, the British king, had to abandon an exile hospitality offer due to the czar's German wife, and a spy found a rescue impossible. The family was taken to a woodland meadow and shot. Burning the corpses proved arduous, so two kids were separated, giving rise to the hope they survived, but modern DNA evidence identified all.
Episode 13
Joan of Arc
24 mins
Enter the complex and compelling mind of Joan of Arc and discover what led this 19-year-old to martyrdom.
