Years ago, I read about the assassination of Georgi Markov. I also remember seeing an episode of "Quincy, M.E." where a man was murdered the same way Markov was--an episode obviously inspired by this amazing real-life murder. So, what I saw in this "Secrets of the Dead" show was not a huge surprise--but it did give an exceptionally detailed and high quality explanation of this strange case.
In 1978, the defector and outspoken dissident, Georgi Markov, came into a British emergency room. He told staff that he thought he'd been poisoned but the staff didn't take it seriously at first. After all, the idea of assassins doing high tech poisonings is more something of James Bond movies than anything else, right? Well, it turns out Markov was not exaggerating and a couple days later, he was dead. This film discusses the investigations which have been going on for nearly 30 years--trying to determine HOW he died, who ordered it and who actually was the killer. It's all VERY interesting, but what I was more impressed with was how much trouble the PBS folks went to to make this particular episode. They traveled many places around the world and did a masterful job on the story--and I can just about guarantee that you, too, will be fascinated by the show--it's THAT good.
In 1978, the defector and outspoken dissident, Georgi Markov, came into a British emergency room. He told staff that he thought he'd been poisoned but the staff didn't take it seriously at first. After all, the idea of assassins doing high tech poisonings is more something of James Bond movies than anything else, right? Well, it turns out Markov was not exaggerating and a couple days later, he was dead. This film discusses the investigations which have been going on for nearly 30 years--trying to determine HOW he died, who ordered it and who actually was the killer. It's all VERY interesting, but what I was more impressed with was how much trouble the PBS folks went to to make this particular episode. They traveled many places around the world and did a masterful job on the story--and I can just about guarantee that you, too, will be fascinated by the show--it's THAT good.