TV - Period Pieces

Story of Christine Keeler, who found herself at the heart of a political sex scandal that rocked British government in the 1960s.

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The extended Forsyte family live a more than pleasant upper middle class life in Victorian and later Edwardian England. The two central characters are Soames Forsyte and his cousin Jolyon Forsyte. Soames is a solicitor, all proper and straight-laced. His love for the beautiful Irene is his only weakness as is his beautiful daughter Fleur. Jolyon is the opposite, a free-thinking artist who abandons his wife to live with his children's nanny. Their lives and their children's lives will intersect over 30 years bringing happiness to some and tragedy to others.

Adapted from Philippa Gregory's best-selling novel and part of The Cousins' War book series, The White Princess sees England ostensibly united by the marriage of Elizabeth of York and King Henry VII, but their personal and political rift runs deep and the war that rages between them threatens to tear the kingdom apart once again.

This mini-series follows the history of the Roman Empire, from approximately the death of Marcellus (24/23 B.C.) to Claudius' own death in 54 A.D. As Claudius narrates his life, we witness Augustus' attempts to find an heir, often foiled by his wife Livia who wants her son Tiberius to become emperor. We also see the conspiracy of Sejanus, the infamous reign of Caligula, and Claudius' own troubled period of rule.

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

Born the illegitimate son of a notary in the rural town of Vinci, Leonardo's lonely childhood leaves him with a relentless, near-superhuman drive to understand everything. Under questioning by a Milanese investigator who holds Leonardo's life in his hands, we come to see the terrible personal sacrifice that led him to create masterpieces that changed the way we see the world forever.

As the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, five aristocratic families face the possibility of their lives being changed forever.

In 1906, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, having lost his first wife, was overcome with grief; even Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson refused his call. It was only when his secretary, Woodie, presented him with an apparent real-life miscarriage of justice, that he could be roused to action. The case in question was that of George Edalji, a Parsee solicitor, who was imprisoned for writing obscene letters and killing livestock in Great Wyrley, Staffordshire. George needed Arthur's help to clear his name. However, as the twists and turns of the case unfold, Arthur himself questions George's innocence. It is only by finding the true culprit, that Arthur can finally put the case, and his grief, to rest; whilst simultaneously becoming influential in a major reform to the English judicial system.

Young, penniless and ostracized archaeologist, Howard Carter, whose obsession is to find the legendary tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamun, in the so-called Valley of the Kings, is hired by British aristocrat, Lord Carnarvon, to do just that. However, many things stand in their way--the outbreak of WWI, Arab rebellion against the British rule, Carnarvon's thinning patience and wallet, the noisy press, the new Egyptian laws that abolished their right to a finder's fee, as well as Carnarvon's charming rebellious daughter, Evelyn, who befriends and seduces somewhat naive Howard. Eventually, Howard achieves his greatest dream, only to lose everything else.

In the year 872, many of the separate kingdoms of what is now England have fallen to the invading Danes, leaving the great kingdom of Wessex standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred. Against this turbulent backdrop lives Uhtred. Born to a Saxon nobleman, he is captured by the Danes and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between his birth country and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. What is he? Saxon or Dane? On a quest to reclaim his birthright, Uhtred must tread a dangerous path between both sides to play his part in the birth of a new nation and--ultimately--recapture his ancestral lands.

Centers on the real-life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's department store.

A portrayal of one of the most dramatic and turbulent times in English history. A story of love and lust, seduction and deception, betrayal and murder, it is uniquely told through the perspective of three different, yet equally relentless women - Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville. In their quest for power, they will scheme, manipulate and seduce their way onto the English throne. The year is 1464, before the Tudor dynasty ruled the country, and war has been ravaging throughout England over who is the rightful King. It is a bitter dispute between two sides of the same family, The House of York and The House of Lancaster. The House of York's young and handsome Edward IV is crowned King of England with the help of the master manipulator, Lord Warwick "The Kingmaker." But when Edward falls in love with a beautiful Lancastrian commoner, Elizabeth Woodville, Warwick's plan to control the throne comes crashing down. A violent, high-stakes struggle ensues between Elizabeth, her most fierce adversary, Lancastrian Margaret Beaufort, and Anne Neville, the pawn in her father's power game - each woman vying for the crown.

New adaptations of Shakespeare's tetralogy of history plays comprising the "Henriad" for the BBC's 2012 Cultural Olympiad: King Richard II; King Henry IV: Part 1; King Henry IV: Part 2; King Henry V. The plays chronicle a continuous period in British history from the end of the fourteenth century to the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Together, the plays comprise a story with recurring themes of power struggles, redemption, family conflict, and betrayal.

In 43 AD, the Roman Army - determined and terrified in equal measure - returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia - a mysterious land ruled by warrior women and powerful druids who can channel the powerful forces of the underworld. Or so they say.

In 1936, Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard) and his pretty young wife Lady Agnes (Keeley Hawes) return from a diplomatic posting abroad and take up residence at 165 Eaton Place, formerly the home of the Bellamy family but vacant for several years. By chance, they ask Rose Buck (Jean Marsh), a long-time servant in the Bellamy household, to find them a suitable staff. In the end, Rose joins them as the housekeeper. The 1930s are a difficult time in England. The Depression has taken its toll with high levels of unemployment. Fascism, which has become popular on the continent in Italy and Germany, is also finding followers in the U.K. with Oswald Mosely's British Union of Fascists. As the new staff begin their daily work, the downstairs family begins to take shape.

The extraordinary rise of Livia Drusilla, who overcame adversity to become the most powerful woman in the world. Follow Livia's journey from a naive young girl whose world crumbles in the wake of Julius Caesar's assassination, to Rome's most powerful and influential Empress.

The early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of eighteen to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.