The work and unexplained death of Michael Ventris, the English architect, classicist, and philologist who deciphered the ancient Mycenaean Greek script Linear B, are portrayed.

"A Very English Genius" is a documentary telling the story of how Michael Ventris became obsessed with the quest of cracking the earliest known writing system, Linear B, which originated in Greece. The documentary begins with his introduction to the ancient script, on a school trip to a museam, continues through his endeavours to crack the language, and ends with his unexplained death, providing various theories to what exactly caused his final demise.—Sam Baron