The WORST episodes of Secrets of the Dead
Every episode of Secrets of the Dead ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Secrets of the Dead!
Sometimes the truth gets carried to the grave. The techniques of modern forensic science are used to investigate a historical mystery to find proof of what really happened.
#1 - The Nero Files
Season 16 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/20/2019
Take a closer look at the life and legend of Nero, the infamous Roman emperor, as a forensic profiler attempts to find out what history may have gotten wrong about his alleged tyranny.
#2 - Jamestown's Dark Winter
Season 14 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/24/2015
The story of the Jamestown settlement, the first permanent English colony in the Americas, is seen through the prism of a 14-year-old English girl whose skull and severed leg were discovered during the excavation of the trash layer of a cellar. The study of her remains reveals evidence that one or more of the settlers, who endured a 1609-10 winter that's often called the "Starving Time," resorted to the unthinkable—cannibalism—to feed themselves.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#3 - The World's Biggest Bomb
Season 11 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/16/2011
Beginning in the 1950s, American and Soviet scientists embarked on a perilous race to see who could build and detonate the world’s largest bomb. The results exceeded all expectations about how big a bomb could be built. Initially, the Americans led the way, but then left the field clear for the Soviet Union to break all records. Secrets of the Dead chronicles how the bomb-makers on both sides were working blind as they pushed science into unknown territory to build The World’s Biggest Bomb. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the detonation of the most powerful bomb ever constructed.
#4 - Slave Ship Mutiny
Season 10 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/10/2010
Three disparate Capetowners reveal a long-forgotten, dramatic slave ship revolt en route from Madagascar to South Africa. About half of Cape Town's population are descendants of White, Asian, and Black slaves captured by the Dutch East Indies Company from all around the Indian Ocean. After the captives force the surviving crew below deck, a brave Malagasy warrior and a devious Dutch company agent fight a battle of wits with many surprising turns. For some aboard, the journey ends on infamous Robben Island, where Tokyo Sexwale and Nelson Mandela were later imprisoned.
#5 - Michelangelo Revealed
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/13/2009
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.
#6 - Search for the First Human
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/8/2002
Ancient hominid fossils ignite controversy over the origins of humankind.
#7 - Sinking Atlantis
Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/14/2008
Five thousand years ago the Minoans, Europe’s first great civilization, flourished on the island of Crete. Yet in their heyday, they mysteriously disappeared. Sinking Atlantis digs deep into the Minoan soil and history, following archaeologists who are finding evidence of a massive tsunami that devastated the Minoans – and may have spawned the myth of Atlantis.
#10 - Witches' Curse
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/26/2001
They suffered from delusions, hysteria, convulsions, and trances. Was an LSD-like organic fungus responsible?
#11 - Cannibalism in the Canyon
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/17/2000
The Anasazi people of the American Southwest were once thought to be a model society, but now it seems they may have practiced ritual cannibalism. This program explores the evidence for how they lived and why they disappeared.
Watch Now:Apple TV
#13 - Japanese SuperSub
Season 9 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/6/2010
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
Watch Now:Amazon
#14 - The End of the Romans
Season 18 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/26/2022
What if climate change and pandemics were the real causes of the decline of the Roman Empire? Scientists from a range of disciplines are accumulating clues to show that three successive waves of deadly epidemics and powerful temperature drops could have caused the collapse of the Empire — and draw frightening parallels to today.
Watch Now:Amazon
#15 - Deadliest Battle
Season 10 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/19/2010
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.
Watch Now:Amazon
#16 - The Silver Pharaoh
Season 10 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/3/2010
Tanis, Egypt, circa 1939. On the brink of World War II, an excavation team led by French archaeologist Pierre Montet unearthed an intact royal burial chamber containing treasures that rival the riches found in Tutankhamun’s tomb almost two decades before. But while the Tut discovery created an international sensation, the opening of the tomb in Tanis made barely a ripple in a world focused on impending war.
Watch Now:Amazon
#17 - Doping for Gold
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/7/2008
In the 1970s, female East German athletes came from nowhere to dominate international sport. But behind their success lay a horrifying secret. Doping for Gold reveals the truth behind the biggest state-sponsored doping program the world has ever known, creating a timely perspective on today’s many sports drug scandals.
Watch Now:Amazon
#19 - The Sinking of the Andrea Doria
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/26/2006
An examination of the evidence to find out just what really happened when this luxury cruise liner sank in 1956. Recounts the story of how the Andrea Doria, a 697-foot Italian luxury liner bound for New York City, was rammed broadside by another luxury liner, the Swedish-American Stockholm, just off Nantucket Island.
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV#22 - Tragedy at the Pole
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/15/2003
In March 1912, on their return trip from the South Pole, Captain Robert F. Scott and his team froze to death in Antarctica just 11 miles from a depot of food and heating oil. Scott's fatal journey has become the stuff of legend, and some have labeled him an incompetent leader whose mistakes cost him and his team their lives. But are the criticisms fair, or has history judged him too harshly?
Watch Now:Amazon