Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV / KPBS+
In early 2023, three amateur codebreakers announced they had successfully decoded the secret correspondence of one of the most tragic characters in European history: Mary, Queen of Scots.
SECRETS OF THE DEAD: Preview | Cracking the Queen’s Code
57 encrypted letters detail the exiled queen’s efforts to free herself from imprisonment and gain advantage over her rival, Queen Elizabeth. Now, after four centuries, Mary’s urgent pleas can be revealed.
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PBS
Codebreakers George Lasry and Norbert Biermann inspect the original letters of Mary, Queen of Scots with a representative at the National Library of France.
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© GEDEON Programmes
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PBS
Actress portraying Mary, Queen of Scots writing her coded letters.
Credits: A Lion Television Scotland and GEDEON Programmes production in association with ARTE France for BBC, in association with ZDF and The WNET Group, in collaboration with SBS Australia, Histoire TV and SVT Sweden. Narrated by Jay O. Sanders. Directed by Russell Barnes, Augustin Viatte, and Craig Collinson. Written by Augustin Viatte. Produced by Stéphane Millière, Valérie Guérin, and Helena Hunt. Executive Producers for Lion TV are Richard Bradley, Sarah Sarkhel, and Lisa Hazlehurst. For SECRETS OF THE DEAD: Julian Lim is producer; Benjamin Phelps is senior supervising producer; Stephanie Carter is executive producer; Stephen Segaller is executive in charge.
© GEDEON Programmes
/
PBS
A coded letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots.
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is an award-winning history and science PBS documentary series.