Original release 11 août 1999
Previous episode S1994E08 - The Rockefellers
Number S1994E09
Episode runtime 90 minutes
Country United States
Original language English
Genres Documentary, History
External links TheTVDB page
IMDB page
TheMovieDB page
Last update 12 novembre 2026 - 08:27
on 11 databases

Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense

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He was the man who turned our most common fears into cinematic masterpieces. Alfred Hitchcock was more than just a director; he was a brand, a silhouette, and a master manipulator of the human psyche. From his early days in the silent film era of London to his reign as the King of Hollywood suspense, this episode of BIOGRAPHY traces the life of the genius behind Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window. We go beyond the famous cameo appearances to explore the private man: his obsessive attention to detail, his complicated relationships with his 'Hitchcock Blondes,' and the hidden anxieties that fueled the greatest thrillers ever made.

BetaSeries' opinion

Secrets d'histoire Season 20 Finale: Stéphane Bern's Messalina Episode Ends a Season About Reputations on Trial

Twenty seasons in, "Secrets d'histoire" can still surprise its audience. The Season 20 finale aired on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 9:10 p.m. on France 3, and Stéphane Bern closed the season with one of the most notorious women of antiquity: Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius. If you watched it, you already know it was more than a parade of Roman scandal. It was a careful re-examination of a woman whose name has been shorthand for depravity for almost two thousand years. If you haven't caught up yet, this debrief shows why the episode, and the whole season, deserves a place in your watchlist.

A finale that puts history's verdict on trial

The question at the centre of the finale was simple: does Messalina deserve the brutal nickname history gave her? Roman writers handed down a woman driven by insatiable desire and a hunger for power. Bern's team took that portrait apart piece by piece. They asked who wrote the story, why they wrote it, and what they gained from it. This is the series at its best. It doesn't simply retell a legend. It looks into how the legend was made. Messalina's world gave the episode plenty of drama: Caligula, Nero, Agrippina and the freedman Narcissus all appear, each with their own agenda in the deadly politics of the Julio-Claudian court. Without spoiling anything for latecomers, the finale's real emotional pull comes from the gap between the caricature and the young woman caught up in a machine much bigger than she was.

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