Stephen Fry's Royal Secrets: The Elizabethans

Join Stephen Fry as he delves in to the secrets of one of the most extraordinary monarchs in one of our greatest eras in English history.

A woman in a man’s world. And not just any woman–but Elizabeth I, one of the greatest and most secretive monarchs of all time. This queen realised that her sex, far from being a weakness, could be deployed as a strength.

It’s not an overstatement to say that England’s politics, religion, and culture have all been shaped by what she did and said. And what she kept secret.

This wasn’t just a time of poets, playwrights and poachers. The country was awash in deep paranoia, constant plotting and the Devil was everywhere.

Behind Elizabeth’s greatness and her extraordinary ability to stay one step ahead of her detractors and opponents, she was very human. Love, cunning, ego, ruthlessness, fallibility all played their part-and, perhaps, selfishness.

And at the centre of it all, we discover Elizabeth’s innermost personal secrets, including the one she appears to be taking to her grave.

Part 1: Life and Death

Elizabeth lies dying. But as she draws her final breath, how did we get here? Our story begins with the teenage princess, a sinister step-father and a plot that could see Elizabeth executed before she even takes to the throne.

Part 2: Secret Service

There’s always someone who wants Elizabeth dead. Paranoia abounds. To counter these threats, we see the emergence of a shadowy network of spies, double agents, and deception the likes of which the country has never seen.

Part 3: Doctors and Devils

Satan is everywhere. Witches, magic and demons are forces that transfix and terrify the country. And no more so than in a small village where three young girls are seemingly possessed–and there’s a shocking glimpse of the Devil’s nipple.

Part 4: Leicester: A Kind of Loving

It’s treasonous to suggest such a thing but have they or haven’t they? Just what is the nature of Elizabeth’s relationship with her childhood sweetheart Robert Dudley? As suitors from across Europe jostle for the Queen’s attention, will she put her country before her heart?

Part 5: More Elizabethans

Elizabethan England wasn’t just made up of the ruddy-cheeked and pale-faced. It was far more diverse. But who is to blame for ‘whitewashing’ one of history’s big secrets? As Elizabeth explores closer links with the Islamic world, we reveal the identities of some of those close to the action but largely left out of the history books.

Part 6: All The Queen’s Men

The Virgin Queen. It’s a great brand but not very useful when the country is demanding she settle down and produce a male heir. But how can Elizabeth stand firm against such unrelenting pressure to marry? Many men were bewitched by her; others she managed to string along for years. But is the Queen’s procrastination part of a bigger plan to keep her country safe?

Part 7: Escape from the Tower

A one-stop shop for imprisonment, interrogation, torture and execution. Very few people ever escaped from the Tower of London. But intricate carvings and centuries-old graffiti scrawled into the walls reveal the lives of some of those incarcerated-including the Catholic rebel who hatched a brilliantly dangerous plan to escape and lived to tell the grisly tale.

Part 8: The Huntress

Elizabeth loves the thrill of the chase. But she has other motives for venturing deep into the forest on horseback. The very act of hunting is used to conceal and convey secrets, not only about the Queen but about the whole nation. And it reveals an occasionally brutal aspect of her character.

Part 9: Secret Shakespeare

Crackpot theories, baseless claims and a great big chunk of his life simply missing. So little is known about Shakespeare the man. But there are glimpses into the events that shaped him. And his writing reveals tantalising secrets about love and sex in the time of Elizabeth.

Part 10: Secrets of the New World

An entire community, left to its own devices, simply vanishes without a trace. It was a worrying start to Elizabeth’s efforts to colonise the New World. Now, in the 21st Century, comes their virtual reappearance.

Part 11: Secrets of the Armada

England’s victory against Spain is not just the stuff of legend. It’s also wrapped in secrets, propaganda plus growing discontent at home. So is the glory that has defined England’s national character ever since the Elizabethan age really deserved?

Part 12: Sense of an Ending

Elizabeth is in decline. Her power is slipping as those closest to her die or turn against her. As her magnificent reign comes to an end, there are still unanswered questions over her heir. But there’s a final secret about her successor that history has only just revealed.

Available in Dolby Atmos.