Season 1 – Episode 1: A Nation State
Eminent scholar and energetic storyteller Dr. David Starkey (The Six Wives Of Henry VIII) serves as your guide through nearly 10 centuries of royal rule in England.
From the fall of the Roman Empire to the Restoration, Starkey vividly describes the human drama behind the throne, with all its intrigue, lust, treachery, and thirst for power. You visit the very stages upon which history played out – Westminster Abbey, Bosworth Field, the dreaded Tower of London, and more – and explore the true character of the men and women who wore the crown.
In this rich tapestry. Starkey identifies a unifying thread. On one hand, England required authoritarian might to stand strong against external threats. On the other, it cherished its longstanding tradition of rule by consent of the governed. The dynamic tension between these two impulses enabled the monarchy to survive as the oldest-functioning political institution in Europe.
In this first episode David Starkey begins his history of the British monarchy in the violence and chaos of the Dark Ages. From a legendary world peopled by dragons and monsters a uniquely English idea of monarchy emerged, which was able to stand firm in the face of the Viking invasions. In this programme Dr Starkey tells the dramatic story of the creation of England and the triumph of an English hero, Alfred the Great.
