England's Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey

England's Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey (2018)

EndedDocumentary showHistory

In this three-part series for BBC Four, historian Helen Castor pieces together the astonishing true story of Lady Jane Grey - the first reigning Queen of England.

We may think we know the history: an innocent teen thrust onto the throne and beheaded as a traitor after reigning for just nine days. But Helen discovers original documents that reveal a Tudor thriller - an epic story of dynastic rivalry, intrigue and betrayal. A young woman manipulated by older men who ends up losing her life as a result.

In July 1553, Tudor England is rocked by a constitutional crisis. Henry VIII's young son Edward dies with no male heir to inherit the throne. Having never had a reigning Queen, England now has two who claim the title. Two women prepared to fight for the throne - the 37 year-old Catholic Mary Tudor and the teenage Protestant Jane Grey.

Network
Scheduleevery Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 21:00 (60 min)

Last Episode

Episode 3
Season 1Episode 360 min

Episode 3

Jane has been installed in the Tower of London by a powerful cabal of men in the royal court. They want to keep the Catholic Mary Tudor from power. Meanwhile, Mary has assembled an army and is ready to fight back. Led by the manipulative Duke of Northumberland, Jane's forces have assembled close to Mary's castle at Framlingham. Poised on the brink of battle, the two sides are evenly matched and the outcome hangs by a thread. When a key supporter of Jane's defects to Mary's side, taking with him thousands of followers, the balance tips. The Duke of Northumberland is thrown into confusion and the country holds its breath to see what will happen next. On the final day of Jane's nine-day reign, the men who placed her on the throne abandon her and switch sides to join Mary. Their ringleader is Jane's own uncle, the Earl of Arundel. Jane and her father, the Duke of Suffolk, are prisoners in the Tower as Mary enters London in triumph. Jane is put on trial, but at first her life is spared. It is only when Jane's father joins a second rebellion that Mary takes action. She decrees that Jane, her husband and her father should be executed. Dr. Helen Castor discovers that despite her reign lasting only nine days, Jane did leave a legacy: when Elizabeth I finally inherits the throne the lessons she learned from observing Jane's struggles help her to rule for 44 years. And, crucially, Jane opened the door for a woman to rule England in her own right.

Jan 11, 2018

Recent Episodes

EpisodeNameAirdate
S01E03Episode 3Jan 11, 2018
S01E02Episode 2Jan 10, 2018
S01E01Episode 1Jan 9, 2018
View all episodesView all seasons

Cast

View all cast

Characters

View all characters

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Vera
Running

Vera

Set around Newcastle and the stunning Northumberland countryside, Vera features complex and intriguing cases, atmospherically-shot landscapes and captivating performances, led by Brenda Blethyn who plays the unorthodox but brilliant DCI Vera Stanhope.

Doctor Who
Running

Doctor Who

The Doctor and his companion, Ruby Sunday, travel across time and space, having adventures from the Regency era in England to war-torn future worlds, from the dawn of human history to distant alien worlds. Throughout their adventures in the TARDIS – a time-traveling ship shaped like a police box – they encounter incredible friends and dangerous foes, including a terrifying bogeyman and the Doctor's most powerful enemy yet. And everywhere they go, they find adventure, terror, fun, chases, joy, and monsters.

Doc
Upcoming

Doc

Doc centers on the hard-charging, brilliant Dr. Amy Elias, Chief of Internal and Family Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis. After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she's treated, colleagues she's crossed, the soulmate she divorced, the man she now loves and the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine, despite having lost nearly a decade of knowledge and experience.

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days
Running

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days

On the heels of the success of 90 Day Fiancé and spinoff series 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, comes a second spinoff series 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days. The newest linear addition to the franchise will follow couples who have an existing relationship online, but have not met in person. Viewers will experience their journey as they travel to the other's foreign country for the first time in an attempt to establish a relationship. At the end of the trip, the couple faces a choice: do they continue down a path towards a proposal and engagement to then begin the K-1 visa process, or will one of them be heading home with a broken heart?

Very Scary People
Running

Very Scary People

Host Donnie Wahlberg looks at some of the most-frightening killers in history, retracing their backgrounds, psychology, motives and how they were eventually caught.

GenreCrime