The Real Da Vinci Code

This irreverently presented but thematically serious British television special carefully dissects a number of historical "facts" that author Dan Brown embraced in his bestselling The Da Vinci Code, which supports the notion that the Holy Grail is not an actual cup but instead refers to Jesus' bloodline. Hosted by Tony Robinson (Blackadder's Baldrick), The Real Da Vinci Code follows a trail through France, Scotland, Israel, Italy, Spain, and America to examine major historical players in Brown's alternative Holy Grail legend, including the heretical Cathars, the persecuted Knights Templar, and the hush-hush Priory of Sion. Did any of these groups do the things Brown and his research sources said they did? Doubtful. These stories come up wanting, as does the basis for the 1982 Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which provided much of the foundation for Brown's book. Most damning is proof that at least one major late-20th-century hoax associated with Grail quests has been mistakenly if popularly accepted as fact (also suspect is the assertion that Leonardo Da Vinci was one of many important people who kept records of Christ's progeny). The one ray of hope here for Grail conspiracy theorists is the Magdalene cult woven through the pages of the Gnostic gospels written by early Christians, and the program's split decision over whether that's Mary or St. John at Christ's right in Leonardo's The Last Supper. In any case, the show's flashes of wit (including comic-book images of Christ's supposed romance with Magdalene) are a hoot. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (T. Keogh)