Masterpiece Theater

At the court of Charles II, young John Churchill advances his career by serving the king’s bastard son, Monmouth, in the field of battle, and by bedding the king’s mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland. Young Sarah Jennings is also advancing at court, by befriending the king’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of York, and teaching the York princesses, Mary and Anne, the art of gambling. At a court masque, the two meet, and sparks fly.

In 1675 a masque was performed at the Court of Charles II at Whitehall. There the young soldier John Churchill, Groom of the Bedchamber to the King's brother, fell in love with a pretty lady-in-waiting, Sarah Jennings.

John and Sarah have married. Lord Shaftesbury has threatened Charles with rebellion. To appease his Protestant Parliament, Charles has arranged a marriage between Mary and the Prince of Orange.

The rage against Popery in England continues. James, Duke of Monmouth, has become the protégé of Shaftesbury who plans to make him King. But Churchill has refused to support Monmouth. Charles has resisted all pressure to disinherit his brother James.

Charles has been forced to send James into exile and to dissolve his factious parliament at Oxford. The Princess Anne has married George, Prince of Denmark, and has chosen Sarah to be one of her Ladies of the Bedchamber.

Monmouth, the hope of the Protestant rebels, was defeated by John Churchill at Sedgemoor.

John Churchill owed much to James II. But the King was clearly determined to destroy the Protestant religion and the laws of England, so John decided to support William of Orange and the Revolution of 1688.

William III, with Churchill's help, has defeated James' attempted invasion of Ireland. John has been suspected of treason and dismissed from Court. Princess Anne has refused to obey her sister Mary and part with Sarah.

Before he died William III recognised Marlborough as his successor in the task of defeating France. With the accession of Anne, John and Sarah have risen to a position of pre-eminence.

To save the Holy Roman Empire from French invasion Marlborough led his allied troops into Germany and defeated the French at the Battle of Blenheim.

Marlborough continues his success in the war against France, but his prestige at home and with Anne has been impaired by the devious backstairs intrigue of Robert Harley.

The cultivated Mrs Adela Gereth is worried that her son Owen will marry Mona Brigstock - she considers Mona to be brash and completely unsuitable. Owen soon gets engaged to Mona and expects to take over Poynton, the family's large country house, which is filled with valuable antique furniture, pictures and collections. Mrs Gereth does not want to let go of the house, but she is even more attached to the contents.

Owen asks his friend Fleda Vetch to help him to persuade his mother to clear out of Poynton. Mrs Gereth decides to move to another house on the estate, called Ricks. But she does not plan to lose her favourite pictures and pieces of furniture as well.

Fleda vists Mrs Gereth at Ricks and finds she has furnished it with all the best furniture and pictures from Poynton. Mona Brigstock is angry with what she looks on as this theft. Meanwhile, Owen is now more attracted to Fleda than to Mona and tells Fleda he loves for her - but she says he should honour his promise to Mona, unless she lets him go.

Mrs Gereth returns all the best furniture to Poynton, just before Owen and Mona get married, and they go abroad on their honeymoon. Owen writes to Fleda, inviting her to choose one item from the house for herself. She goes to Poynton, but finds it has gone up in flames, with all of its contents.

Catalina of Aragon, a Spanish princess, is set to wed Arthur Tudor, eldest son on King Henry VII. Shortly after they wed, Arthur is taken by illness. Catalina then catches the eye of Arthur's brother, Henry. When Henry VII dies, he tells his son Henry that he must marry Catalina. Henry becomes the King of England and marries Catalina. Being loved by her new subjects, Catalina changes her name to the English version, Catherine. After many years, she is still loved by her subjects, but it's a different story with her husband.

his second episode of the series overlaps with the first, and thus begins when Queen Anne and King Henry are already estranged. After several pregnancies, Anne has provided her husband with only one surviving child, Princess Elizabeth. Extremely unpopular with both the public and the aristocracy, Anne has few friends to protect her when Henry's eye lights upon the virginal Jane Seymour. New prime minister Thomas Cromwell manufactures adultery charges against the queen, including a charge of incest with her own brother which are confirmed by her vengeful sister-in-law, Lady Rochford. Put on trial for treason, the result is a foregone conclusion and Anne Boleyn bravely faces the executioner's axe.

The third episode of the series is told in flashback, as Queen Jane Seymour lies on her deathbed, after giving birth to Henry's sole male heir, Prince Edward. Anxious to rid himself of the shrewish Anne Boleyn, and desperate for a son, Henry is charmed by the naive and pious Jane, the daughter of a wealthy country aristocrat. Political and religious turmoil threaten their happy marriage, as Catholic and Protestant factions clash but Jane is able to provide King Henry with his long-awaited male heir. Tragically, it is at the cost of her own life as she dies six days after her son's birth.

Religious strife between Catholics and Protestants continues to swell in Europe. To try to balance the Catholic threat of France and Spain, Thomas Cromwell persuades King Henry into a political marriage with the sister of the Protestant German Duke of Cleves. Sadly, the artist Hans Holbein, assigned the task of painting the prospective bride, takes artistic liberties, and Henry is unpleasantly surprised when his bride arrives and is not the beauty portrayed in her portrait. Though alone in a foreign land, Anne is shrewd enough to negotiate a divorce from Henry, and remains in England, well cared for, as “the King’s sister.” Her success is not shared by Cromwell, however, who is executed for his role in arranging the disastrous marriage. Though not mentioned in the series, Anne of Cleves outlived all the other wives of Henry VIII..

The boy king Edward VI dies, and in accordance with the will of his father, Henry VIII, the throne of England passes to Edward's young cousin Lady Jane Grey, who has just married Lord Guildford Dudley. But Henry's daughter Princess Mary (whom Henry deemed to be illegitimate) wants the throne, and support rallies around her. Queen Jane is deposed, and then beheaded. The reign of 'Bloody Mary' has begun.

Elizabeth begins to become more involved with her court favourite Robert Dudley whilst she is being courted by all the overly anxious heads of Europe determined to secure the young English Queen's hand in marriage.

Princess Elizabeth, Mary's Protestant sister, inherits the throne.

Elizabeth's neverending battle of wits with the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots almost costs Elizabeth her life.

In an atmosphere of national panic John, falsely accused of Jacobite treachery, has been imprisoned for a time in the Tower. After Mary's death, William receives Anne at Court.

Elizabeth's former brother in law Philip of Spain vows revenge on his long standing rival for both Mary's execution and the constant pillaging of Spain's treasure ships by Sir Francis Drake.

Elizabeth's favour falls on the brash young Earl of Essex, who through his hot headed behaviour alienates the formerly besotted Queen who is put into the agonizing position of ordering his execution as a danger to the state. Elizabeth's own slow death then follows not long after ending an eventful but glorious reign.

It's 1757 and the Red Indians are caught between the British and the French.

On their way to join their father at Fort William Henry, Cora and Alice Munro with their escort Major Heyward are betrayed by their Indian guide, Magua. Hawkeye and the Mohicans, Chingachgook and Uncas have come to the rescue.

Cora, Alice and Heyward have been captured by Magua and the Hurons. Hawkeye has left Fort William in a desperate attempt to bring help.

Hawkeye has undertaken to guide Cora and Alice to their father at Fort William Henry.

Cora and Alice have joined their father. Munro has been ordered by General Webb to surrender the fort to the French.

Munro has surrendered Fort William Henry to the French. Waiting in the woods as the British garrison marches out are Magua and the hostile Hurons.

Heyward has implemented a plan to rescue Alice who, with Cora has fallen into the hands of Magua. Uncas has been captured by the Hurons and sentenced to death.

Magua has taken to the forest with Cora as his prisoner. Uncas prepares to follow and fight to save her.

The powerful Duke of Norfolk, the leading Catholic aristocrat in England, dangles his smokin' hot teenaged niece Catherine Howard before the aging but still horny King Henry, who foolishly marries her. It is only a matter of time before Catherine's indiscretions with men her own age are revealed, and she meets the same fate as predecessor Anne Boleyn.

Corpulent and old, Henry makes a final trip to the altar, with the puritan Lady Latimer, Catherine Parr. The new queen brings Henry’s estranged daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, back into the family fold, but irritates the king by debating religion with him and his advisors. The Catholic Bishop of Winchester sets out to prove Catherine to be a heretic, but is thwarted by Henry’s affection for his last queen. Finally, Henry VIII dies, leaving his kingdom fractured by religious differences, and divided over the legitimacy of his daughters. At his own request, he is buried next to the wife who provided him with a son, Jane Seymour.