The Umbrella Assassin: Revealed

Many of those in the UK who have followed the Umbrella Murder - the story of Georgi Markov, the Bulgarian dissident who was allegedly murdered by a poison-tipped umbrella in 1978 - will have watched the Channel 5 documentary last night with interest.

I thought it was well-presented, compelling, and authoritative. Jack Hamilton has been unearthing the truth about Markov's murder since he went to Sofia after the political reforms of 1989. The director, Mark Radice, told the story well, with some lovely camera work and haunting music. Inevitably there were a lot of still photographs, but clever editing and digital effects ensured movement and flow that carried the story along.

Jack had obviously covered much of the same ground as the Bulgarian journalists who wrote The Umbrella Murder, doggedly tracking down snippets of information and chasing up leads. Much of his material is corroborated by Bereanu and Todorov. Originally they published their findings in Bulgaria in 1991, which they did at some risk to themselves, but they wanted to tell their story in the UK, and that's where we came into the picture.

The story of Georgi Markov's assassination has attracted an unprecedented amount of interest and speculation around the world – a story that has been unfolding since 1978 and shows no sign of losing its fascination. It is surrounded by mystique, with the flavour of a James Bond novel. There is a reason why this blog's eponymous subject was suppressed. It revealed theories and facts that are politically sensitive. I am not at liberty to reveal them all here in this blog, but I will present one or two surprising deviations to the story told on television last night.