Elizabeth I

The turbulent early years of Elizabeth I's life, from age three when her mother was executed and she was declared illegitimate and banished from court, to the start of her reign.

Elizabeth feels insecure during the first 25 years of her reign, as she deals with Catholic plots at home and abroad, and ponders the problem of Mary Queen of Scots; Elizabeth's councilors want her to get married.

Elizabeth I inspires her troops with a famous speech at Tilbury in the wake of the Spanish Armada; as she reaches 60, Elizabeth I falls for the flattery of the Earl of Essex, but he also ends up betraying her.