 Rizzio was played by John Carradine in the 1936 RKO picture "Mary of Scotland"; by Ian Holm in the 1971 movie "Mary, Queen of Scots"; by Tadeusz Pasternak in the BBC mini-series "Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot"; by Andrew Shaver in The CW network television show "Reign"; and by Ismael Cruz Córdova in the 2018 film "Mary Queen of Scots".The murder of Rizzio and the subsequent downfall of Darnley form the main subject of the 1830 play "Maria Stuart" by Juliusz Słowacki.Rizzio's life and death are a key plot element in Caleb Carr's Sherlock Holmes story "The Italian Secretary", Holmes vocally dismissing the idea that Rizzio was ever anything more than entertainment.