The tale surrounding the discovery of King Richard III's skeleton beneath an English parking lot is about much more than a pile of 528-year-old bones — all you have to do is look at the face of Philippa Langley as she breaks down during an archaeological autopsy.

"I don't see bones on that table," she says, during an emotional scene in a new documentary about the king's remains. "I see the man."

Langley, a 50-year-old Scottish screenwriter, plays almost as big a role as the much-maligned monarch in "The King's Skeleton: Richard III Revealed." The show airs Sunday night on the Smithsonian Channel in the U.S., after racking up royal ratings on British TV. It was Langley who enlisted the Richard III Society to help jump-start the excavation, and she serves as the on-screen witness for many of the key twists in the excavation.

Medieval CSI
Based on an analysis of the historical records, archaeologists from the University of Leicester obtained a license from the British government to dig into that parking lot next to Leicester Cathedral last year. "The King's Skeleton" traces each step in the CSI-style investigation, leading to February's conclusion that the bones were indeed the mortal remains of the last Plantagenet king.

Richard III reigned for only two years, but his death in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 was a key moment. In fact, many historians consider his fall to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England. A century later, William Shakespeare's play immortalized him as one of literature's greatest villains.

One of the themes of "The King's Skeleton" centers on how Richard III may have gained a blacker reputation than he deserved. The way Richard III's fans see it, the successors to the throne from the House of Tudor had an interest in making their Plantagenet forebears look bad — to the point of portraying Richard III as a misshapen hunchback. "This is propaganda," historian Pamela Tudor-Craig says during the documentary.

So the truth comes as a shock to Langley.

"What we're actually seeing here is that this skeleton in fact has a hunchback," Jo Appleby, a bone expert at the University of Leicester, tells her in one scene.

"No!" Langley answers.

The identification of Richard III's remains drew upon carbon dating and detailed studies of the skeleton, including evidence of wounds that matched up with historical accounts of the king's demise. But the weightiest evidence comes from analysis of DNA extracted from the skeleton: The chemical signature of the mitochondrial DNA matched up with two maternal-line descendants of Richard III's eldest sister, Anne of York.

Stay tuned
Does this mean the case of Richard III is closed? Not yet. Mitochondrial DNA is not as precise an indicator as, say, a paternity test. "The DNA evidence is simply a single strand within the entire analysis procedure," Turi King, the University of Leicester geneticist who conducted the analysis, told NBC News on Friday. "You certainly wouldn't convict somebody on [the basis of this] DNA evidence."

However, King noted that the mitochondrial DNA signature for this particular skeleton is shared by only a few percent of Europeans. "It's quite a rare type, so that adds to the weight of the evidence," she said.

The next step will be to analyze the skeleton's Y-chromosome DNA, which is passed down from father to son. The Y-chromosome signature is far more precise than mitochondrial DNA, which all children get from their mother. Four paternal-line descendants of Richard III's family have already been identified and tested, and King is now waiting to do the much more complicated reconstruction of the skeleton's Y-chromosome DNA signature.

Working on the royal remains has been a "dream project," King said, but not without its drawbacks: "It's been very stressful. You're trying to work quite quietly and calmly. The pressure to make sure everything has been done properly has been intense. ... I feel like I'm still in the middle of it."

The license to work with the skeleton runs out next year, and King will have to finish up her DNA studies by then.

Meanwhile, a potential legal battle is looming over whether the remains will be reburied in Leicester Cathedral, as planned, or in York instead. Thankfully, that's one drama King and the other scientists involved in the Richard III mystery won't have to deal with.

"I just try to tune it out," she said.

More about the Richard III saga:

• Parking-lot skeleton identified as Richard III
• Could Richard III have gotten his spine fixed?
• For some, resting place is human rights issue

To tune in "The King's Skeleton: Richard III Revealed," check your cable provider's TV listings or consult the Smithsonian Channel's website. Britain's Channel 4 aired the show as "Richard III: The King in the Car Park."

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Distant relatives of England's King Richard III have escalated their fight to have the much-maligned monarch's mortal remains buried in York rather than Leicester, claiming that the matter was a human rights issue.

The late king's skeleton was discovered beneath a parking lot near the present-day Leicester Cathedral last year, and identified "beyond reasonable doubt" through DNA analysis and other forensic tests. Historians say Richard III was buried at the cathedral because it was near where he fell in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 — but it was only recently that archaeologists had enough information to know where to dig.

A century after his death, Richard was immortalized as the child-killing monster of William Shakespeare's play, "Richard III." Contemporary experts say that the king's reputation as an evildoer was undeserved, and that he was an enlightened ruler. Villain or victim, King Richard III has enjoyed a surge of popularity in recent times, so much so that his fans in two English cities are arguing over his final resting place.

Even before the bones were exhumed, the University of Leicester was granted a license from the British Ministry of Justice that gave university officials the power to decide the disposition of any remains that were found. The university and other officials in Leicester are now in the midst of preparations for a reburial at Leicester Cathedral next year.

Descendants of Richard III's siblings, however, are arguing that the remains of England's last Plantagenet king should be buried instead in York, where the monarch had family connections. A lawyer representing the pro-York group, known as the Plantagenet Alliance, said Tuesday that he was preparing a legal challenge to Leicester's plans.

"We have now written officially to the Ministry of Justice and University of Leicester, notifying them that we plan to issue these claims," Reuters quoted the lawyer, Matthew Howarth, as saying. "We will follow up by issuing the judicial review and other proceedings as soon as possible, but certainly within the next few weeks."

The group intends to argue that the Ministry of Justice failed to consult the relatives about the arrangements for the exhumation and reburial, and that this failure breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

"We have every hope that Matthew and his colleagues will succeed in these cases and help us significantly in our quest to have Richard's remains buried at the most appropriate site, York Minster," Stephen Nicolay, a 16th great-nephew of the king, was quoted as saying.

In response, the University of Leicester issued a statement rejecting the Plantagenet Alliance's claims.

"Richard III is believed to have no living descendants. Any distant relations are therefore descended from his siblings. Statistically speaking, many tens of thousands of individuals alive today are descended in this way," the university said. "There is no obligation to consult living relatives where remains are older than 100 years."

The university said that the group's reference to the European Convention on Human Rights, which recognizes the right to respect for private and family life, "seems particularly odd given the distance of any relations, the years that have passed and thus the lack of any personal relationship with the deceased."

More about Richard III:

• Adulation for Richard III is fit for a king
• Police investigating hate mail sent to York
• Richard III's face revealed after 500 years

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

The fight over the final disposition of King Richard III's 528-year-old remains has escalated to the point that people are sending hate mail to York's cathedral, the police are being called in to investigate, and a member of Parliament is pleading with the rivals to avoid sparking another "War of the Roses."

On strictly legal grounds, the matter was resolved even before the remains were unearthed in a parking lot near Leicester Cathedral last year. Britain's Justice Ministry granted researchers from the University of Leicester a license to conduct the excavation there and to determine the disposition of any human remains found there.

Last month, the researchers announced that a skeleton found at the site belonged to Richard III, based on DNA tests. The discovery resolved a longstanding mystery over what happened to Richard's remains after his death in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. That battle marked a turning point in the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long contest between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne. 

Richard III has gotten a bad rap through the centuries — in part because William Shakespeare's play about the monarch cast him as a hunchbacked villain. But historians say he wasn't that terrible of a guy, and since last month's announcement, Richard III's fans have been arguing over whether he should be reburied in Leicester, where he was found; in York, where he had family ties; or in London's Westminster Abbey, the resting place for many of England's kings.

The University of Leicester is already working to arrange a burial at Leicester Cathedral next year, but some of the opponents of that plan — including nine descendants of Richard III's siblings — have taken up York's case. The arguments are apparently getting uglier: Hugh Bayley, a member of Parliament representing York Central, said that York Minster's dean, Vivienne Faull, has received some letters "so extreme that she has referred the correspondence to the police."

Faull was dean of Leicester Cathedral before coming to York, and she has shied away from contesting Leicester's claim to the remains. "It has been suggested that opponents have accused her of bias because of her previous links to Leicester Cathedral," The Telegraph reported.

The Yorkshire Post quoted a spokesman for the Dean and Chapter of York as confirming that "a small number" of the letters relating to the fuss over Richard III's remains have been abusive. "These have been passed to the Minster Police, and they continue to monitor the situation closely," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

The British government's current view is that Richard III's final disposition is up to the University of Leicester, but during Tuesday's speech in the House of Commons, Bayley urged the government to establish an independent commission to decide the matter. In the meantime, he called for what Shakespeare might have termed "some little pause" in the battle. 

“I would say to everybody — calm down," Bayley said. "Let us all respect the memory of a former king of our country, and let us discuss, in a dignified and sober way, where his remains should finally be put to rest. We do not want to reignite the Wars of the Roses.”

More about Richard III:

• Study suggests Richard III spoke with a lilt
• King Richard III's face revealed after 500 years
• Richard III's 'discovery' was reported in 1935, too

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Nine distant relatives of King Richard III are demanding that the British government reverse its decision to have his skeleton reburied at Leicester Cathedral, near the parking lot where it was found, and give it a resting place in York instead.

The open letter, published late Sunday by British newspapers such as The Telegraph and the Daily Mail, is just one of several efforts seeking a burial at York Minster for the more than 500-year-old remains, which were discovered last year by researchers from the University of Leicester. This month, the researchers said DNA analysis and other forensic tests proved "beyond reasonable doubt" that the skeleton was that of Richard III.

The English monarch reigned for just two years before he was killed in battle in 1485, but he was immortalized in William Shakespeare's play, "Richard III," in which he was portrayed as a hunchbacked villain. Richard III's legions of modern-day fans say he wasn't really all that bad — and the row over what to do with his bones has added a new twist to the drama.

"We, the undernamed, do hereby most respectfully demand that the remains of King Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England and our mutual ancestor, be returned to the city of York for formal, ceremonial reburial," the statement from his relatives says. "We believe that such an interment was the desire of King Richard in life and we have written this statement so that his wishes may be fully recognised and upheld. King Richard III was the last King of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty which had ruled England since the succession of King Henry II in 1154.

"We, the undernamed blood descendants, unreservedly believe that King Richard is deserving of great recognition and respect and hereby agree to dutifully uphold his memory.

"With due humility and affection, we are and will remain His Majesty’s representatives and voice."

The statement was signed by nine individuals who have traced their ancestry back to Richard III's siblings. The nine signers are Charles E. Brunner, Stephen Guy Nicolay, Vanessa Maria Roe, Jacob Daniel Tyler, Paul Tyler, Raymond Torrence Bertram Roe, Linda Jane Roe, Eleanor Bianca Lupton and Charlotte Jane Lupton. Richard died childless and thus has no direct-line descendants.

Even before the remains were found, the British Ministry of Justice granted a license putting the University of Leicester in charge of the parking-lot dig and the disposition of any remains found there."The University of Leicester specified in its application that reinterment would occur in Leicester Cathedral if the remains were proved to be those of King Richard III," the institution said in a statement.

The university is currently working with the cathedral and Leicester's city council on plans for his reburial by August 2014. In the meantime, researchers are continuing to study the remains.

The long lead time means that the tug of war between Leicester and York, two cities that are 100 miles (160 kilometers) from each other, could continue for months. There are even those who want to see the remains interred in London's Westminster Abbey. But the nine relatives behind this week's open letter have no more standing than the other descendants of Richard III's family, who doubtless number in the thousands by now.

In that light, Leicester seems to have the strongest case, by virtue of legal grounds as well as the less rigorous "finders, keepers" rule and the dictum that possession is nine-tenths of the law. Do you disagree? Feel free to weigh in with your comments below.

More about Richard III:

• Study suggests Richard III spoke with a lilt
• King Richard III's face revealed after 500 years
• Richard III's 'discovery' was reported in 1935, too

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Experts say DNA analysis supports their claim that the bones dug up last year under a parking lot in the English city of Leicester are the last mortal remains of England's King Richard III.

"It's the academic conclusion of the University of Leicester that beyond reasonable doubt the individual exhumed at Greyfriars in September 2012 is indeed Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England," Richard Buckley, the project's lead archaeologist, said during a Monday news briefing in Leicester.

The project used 21st-century forensic science to solve a 500-year-old mystery surrounding one of William Shakespeare's best-known villains. Shakespeare's play, "Richard III," made the king out to be a scheming monster who killed children to get to the English throne. The bard gave Richard III dramatic lines that are still evoked today, ranging from "the winter of our discontent" to "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

In real life, Richard III's battlefield death in 1485 marked the end of England's Wars of the Roses, a decades-long conflict between the houses of York and Lancaster. Tradition held that he was buried in the choir of Leicester's Greyfriars Church, but the precise location of his remains was lost in the mists of time. Some even speculated that Richard's bones were thrown into the River Soar during Henry VIII's reign.

It was only in the past few years that archaeologists have been able to zero in on the location of the Greyfriars site again. Last year, a team led by the University of Leicester excavated a city parking lot and found a wealth of intriguing evidence — including a skeleton with a battle-scarred skull and a spine that was curved due to scoliosis. There was no evidence of a coffin, a shroud or clothing that was buried with the body.

All those clues suggested that the skeleton could have been that of the historical Richard III, but to firm up the connection, scientists put the bones through genetic tests, radiocarbon dating and more detailed osteological analysis.

"The skull was in good condition, although fragile, and was able to give us detailed information about this individual," University of Leicester archaeologist Jo Appleby reported Sunday in a news release. During Monday's news briefing, Appleby said experts identified 10 injuries to the bones, including eight wounds to the skull and "postmortem humiliation injuries." Such wounds are "highly consistent" with the accounts of Richard III's death, she said.

"Historical sources tell us that Richard's body was stripped," hacked and put on public display after the battle, Appleby noted.

The skeleton's relatively delicate structure was consistent with descriptions of Richard III's physical appearance, University of Leicester historian Lin Foxhall said. 

University of Leicester

A photo shows the Greyfriars skeleton lying in the site where it was found.

University of Leicester

The Greyfriars skeleton is laid out for forensic analysis. Experts believe the foot bones were separated from the rest of the body after burial.

University of Leicester

The Greyfriars skull was found by researchers during a search for the remains of King Richard III.

Buckley told journalists that the position of the hands suggested that they might have been bound together. Initially, the team reported that an arrowhead was found among the bones, but Buckley said a closer look determined that the object was a nail that was apparently mixed in with the remains.

Radiocarbon dating showed that "the individual could have died in 1485," Buckley said. Two tests yielded dates possibly ranging from 1455 to 1540.  

The team's genetic analysis reinforced the link to Richard III: DNA was extracted from bone samples and compared with modern-day mitochondrial DNA from two direct descendants of Richard III's family, including an anonymous donor as well as Michael Ibsen, a Canadian-born cabinetmaker who is a 17th-generation descendant of Richard III's eldest sister, Anne of York.

"The DNA evidence points to these being the remains of Richard III," said Turi King, a geneticist at the University of Leicester. She said additional DNA tests were still in progress.

Genetic matches based on mitochondrial DNA aren't as clear-cut as, say, a paternity test — but a mismatch would have ruled out any family connection. Similar techniques were used to identify the remains of Czar Nicholas II and other members of Russia's royal family, who were killed in 1918 during the Russian Revolution.

A documentary about the Leicester project, "Richard III: The King in the Car Park," is to be aired by Britain's Channel 4 on Monday night. But this isn't the end of the story. For one thing, the results announced on Monday will have to go through review and publication in scientific journals. The announcement also could lead to a reassessment of Richard III's reign, which some historians say wasn't nearly as terrible as Shakespeare made it out to be.

"I think this could be the moment where Richard III's reputation actually turns," British historian Andrew Roberts told NBC News. "This could be the moment where we look at his achievements and the positive aspects of Richard III, and don't just see him as one of the old Dark Ages kings."

And then there's the matter of reburying the remains: Authorities said the skeleton would get a proper interment in Leicester Cathedral, not far from the parking lot where it was found. The cathedral's canon chancellor, David Monteith, said planning for an interment ceremony in 2014 has already begun, and he expressed the hope that after more than 500 years, Richard III "may come to rest in peace, and rise in glory."

More about the search for Richard III:

• PhotoBlog: Reconstruction reveals Richard III's face
• Skeleton was almost destroyed in 19th century
• Dispute erupts over skeleton's future resting place
• Hunt for king's grave turns up garden

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.