Act One: At Court
The years after the Civil War and the Restoration of Charles II marked the end of the medieval and the beginning of the modern age. These were exciting times for women and some rose to prominence like never before. Some had remarkably modern attitudes and ambitions and achieved wealth, celebrity and power that still seems outstanding even by 21st-century standards. But, at the same time, they faced a world that was still predominantly male, misogynistic and positively medieval in its outlook.
In the first episode, Dr Lucy Worsley investigates the lives of women at the top - the king's mistresses at the royal court. When Charles and his entourage returned from exile, they came back with a host of continental ideas. Some of the women at court gained unprecedented political influence and independence. Amongst a fascinating cast of female characters, the most astonishing were Charles II's own mistresses - the royalist Barbara Villiers, the French spy Louise de Keroualle and the infamous cockney actress Nell Gwynn.
Lucy examines the lives of these women, discovering how their fortunes were shaped by the Restoration and how their stories reflect the atmosphere of these extraordinary years. Along her journey, Lucy gets the full mistress makeover, takes to the dance floor and treads the corridors of power. As she discovers, these women were key Restoration players, but, as mistresses, were they truly in charge of their own destinies or were they simply part of the world's oldest profession?
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
Chicago P.D.
District 21 of the Chicago Police Department is made up of two distinctly different groups. There are the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head to head with the city's street crimes. And there's the Intelligence Unit, the team that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond. These are their stories.
Chicago Fire
No job is more stressful, dangerous or exhilarating than those of the Firefighters, Rescue Squad and Paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51. These are the courageous men and women who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death. These are their stories.
LOL: Last One Laughing UK
Famous for his dark humour, one-liners and THAT laugh, Jimmy Carr challenges 10 of Britain's funniest comics to spend the day together without so much as a titter. The rules are simple: laugh and you're out. Over the course of the series, they will use every ounce of their comedic talents to try and break their opponents - without cracking up themselves. And it's not just their rivals they need to watch out for. The series is packed with comedy cameos, format twists and surprises designed to lure laughs from both the players and the viewers. It's a stellar line up of British comedy talent as you've never seen them before, but who will be crowned the inaugural winner of Last One Laughing UK?
