Empire Of The Tsars: Romanov Russia

In the first episode, she investigates the beginning of the Romanovs' 300-year reign. In 1613, when Russia was leaderless, 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov was plucked from obscurity and offered the crown of Russia, with absolute power. Lucy also charts the story of Peter the Great, the ruthless and ambitious tsar who was determined to modernise Russia at the end of the 17th century.

Lucy examines the reign of Catherine the Great, and the traumatic conflict with Napoleonic France. Catherine seized the Russian throne from her husband Peter III in 1762 and became the most powerful woman in the world.

Lucy Worsley concludes her history of the Romanov dynasty, investigating how the family's grip on Russia unravelled in their final century. She shows how the years 1825-1918 were bloody and traumatic, as four tsars tried and failed to deal with pressure for constitutional reform and revolution. Lucy finds out how the Romanovs tried to change the system themselves - in 1861, millions of enslaved serfs were freed by the Tsar-Liberator, Alexander II.