The universe is full of coded secrets – in its flora and fauna, its solar systems, its medicine, its mathematics, its criminal behaviour, and its manufacturing. Man-made enigmas hiding top-secret information, ancient wisdom lost in indecipherable languages, mysteries from space brought to us in strange radio waves.
Featuring the stories of the female codebreaker who helped win World War II, Einstein’s universe-defining equations, classical texts that held the secret of Ancient Greece’s origins, and messages from the Mafia. Cracking the Code reveals the greatest codes known to humanity and the brilliant minds that cracked them.
The show will get its UK premiere as part of Sky HISTORY's Summer of Secrets on Monday, 15th August at 10pm.
Episode One - Monday, 15th August
This episode reveals the story of one of history’s greatest codebreakers, Elizabeth Friedman. Against the odds, she cracks the codes which bring down the Mob, saves countless lives during WWII, and prevents a Nazi invasion of America.
Episode Two - Monday, 22nd August
The Zodiac Killer Code reveals the desperate bid to crack the crazed codes sent by America’s most mysterious serial killer. As fear mounts in San Francisco, the only way to stop the death toll from growing is to unravel the killer’s complex coded messages.
Episode Three - Monday, 29th August
The Japanese Super Code reveals the US efforts to crack Japan’s unbreakable WWII code following the horror of the attack on Pearl Harbor. But can one Naval Officer with a penchant for crosswords really stop the Japanese onslaught?
Episode Four - Monday, 5th September
Decoding a lost civilization reveals the monumental challenge undertaken by some of the academic world’s most brilliant minds to decipher a mysterious long-lost language. It will take more than 50 years and lead to tragedy for everyone involved.
Episode Five - Monday, 12th September
Criminal gangs across the world using highly encrypted phones to stay under the radar are revealed. The police are always one step behind until a team of investigators works out how to turn the phones against the criminals.
Episode Six - Monday, 19th September
The Cold War Code reveals America’s top-secret team of codebreakers charged with unravelling a seemingly uncrackable Soviet code. What they uncover is shocking; a vast ring of Soviet spies at the highest levels of the US Government and America’s weapons programme.
