Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley — Season 1
About this season
Lucy Worsley travels to Russia to tell the extraordinary story of the dynasty that ruled the country for more than three centuries - the Romanovs.
Episodes (3)
1. Reinventing Russia
6.5Aired 6 January 2016 • 60 min
Lucy investigates the beginning of the Romanovs' 300-year reign in Russia. In 1613, when Russia was leaderless, 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov was plucked from obscurity and offered the crown of Russia. Mikhail was granted absolute power and began the reign of the Romanovs as the most influential dynasty in modern European history.
2. Age of Extremes
6.5Aired 13 January 2016 • 60 min
Lucy examines the extraordinary reign of Catherine the Great, and the traumatic conflict with Napoleonic France that provides the setting for the novel War and Peace.
3. The Road to Revolution
7.0Aired 20 January 2016 • 60 min
Lucy Worsley concludes her history of the Romanov dynasty, investigating how the family's grip on Russia unraveled in their final century. She shows how the years 1825-1918 were bloody and traumatic, a period when four tsars tried - and failed - to deal with the growing pressure for constitutional reform and revolution.