The Shadow of the Tower

Episode 1

Crown in Jeopardy

47 mins

Henry Tudor emerges victorious over Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field and seeks to form a coalition from which he hopes to establish a Tudor dynasty. One of Henry's first moved is to recruit John, Earl of Lincoln, Richard III's designated heir, into his cabinet and obfuscate on his promised marriage to fiancée Elizabeth of York.

Episode 2

Power in the Land

50 mins

Henry consolidates his power when Elizabeth gives birth to Prince Arthur legitimizing Henry's claim of descent from the legendary monarch. Henry finds a way to overcome the plots of the treasonous plots of Stafford brothers, who has thus far avoided justice by claiming monastic sanctuary.

Episode 3

The Schooling of Apes

49 mins

Henrys enemies represent commoner Lambert Simmel as the Earl of Warwick, the York pretender. The Earl of Lincoln leaves for Ireland to head the army that is forming against Henry,

Episode 4

The Crowning of Apes

50 mins

Lambert Simnel, a commoner posing as the Earl of Warwick, lays claim to the English throne as the surviving nephew of Richard III. The Irish have gone as far as printing coins with his likeness and German mercenaries along with the Irish launch an invasion fleet against Britain. Henry must raise an army to meet them.

Episode 5

The Serpent and the Comforter

50 mins

King Henry is intrigued by a preacher who is arrested for heresy and speaks with him to persuade him to give up his dissension against the practices of the Catholic Church. The preacher emphasizes to him the simplicity of the Gospel, and his suffering and convictions impress a young Tower guard.

Episode 6

The White Hart

49 mins

In 1494 the opportunistic Sir William Stanleyis believed to be plotting against Henry and is sent to the Tower. He arrogantly boasts that it was his intervention at the Battle of Bosworth that cinched victory for the first Tudor king, but it's popularly believed that he did not join the attack until it was certain that Henry would be victorious. Stanley had initially fought with Richard III until switching sides, The victorious henry rewarded him with the title of Lord Chancellor. Although he is suspected of treason, there is no evidence against him as yet.

Episode 7

A Fly in the Ointment

49 mins

Addle-brained Sir John Kendall joins with his dim-witted nephew John, an archdeacon and others in a plot to overthrow the king. The employ a charlatan of an Italian astrologist to concoct a ointment potion that will cause the king's attendants to kill him along with the rest of the royals and co-ordinate it with an ill-advised Scottish invasion. The hapless conspirators are taken in by the mountebank and his odoriferous but harmless concoction, and their ludicrous conspiracy fails miserably.

Episode 8

The Princely Gift

50 mins

Visionary Italian navigator is in England in 1494 with his wife and sons in the wake of Columbus' first voyage in order to get backing for his proposed western voyage to Cathay, a much shorter route than the eastern overland route. He is unable to get appropriate backing from Bristol shipowners, but his enthusiasm does win the King over after he convinces him that he can avoid Spanish shipping lanes. . Unfortunately the penurious monarch expects him to finance the trip on his own.

Episode 9

Do the Sheep Sin?

It is 1498 and enraged at the crippling taxation of Cornwall local blacksmith Michael Joseph leads a mighty pilgrimage to peacefully confront the King in London but a sinister figure behind the blacksmith places the King in a great crisis .

Episode 10

The Man Who Never Was

48 mins

Flemish Commoner Perkin Warbeck, who claims to be the Duke of Kent, the rightful king, remains the pretender to the throne and a thorn in Henry's side. He has been a guest at the court of James IV but is wearing out his welcome. He tries vainly to get renewed support in Ireland but is rebuffed although the Spanish Ambassador does offer him comfortable asylum but no military support. His last chance is to lead the ragtag peasant army from Cornwall, which is marching on London to protest Henry's heavy-handed taxation policies and is looking for a leader to rally around.

Episode 11

The Strange Shapes of Reality

48 mins

Henry ignores advice to have Perkin Warbeck, th bogus pretender to the throne, executed and maintains him in a comfortable apartment under house arrest. Warbeck continues to have delusions of grandeur and continues to talk about overthrowing Henry. He ultimately bribes his guards and escapes, but is rearrested and re-imprisoned in the Tower in less than comfortable circumstances.

Episode 12

The Fledgling

49 mins

In addition to the pretender Perkin Warbeck, who claims to be the son of Edward IV, Henry also has the Earl of Warwick, Edward's nephew and another contender for the throne, imprisoned in the Tower. Again, advisers urge Henry to execute them along with any other potential Yorkist rivals who might present a future threat against him. Henry resists, especially about Warwick who has never plotted against the King and, in fact, has been imprisoned since he was nine. In order to have the Tudor dynasty gain even more credibility, Henry seeks an arranged marriage between his oldest son Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. The ambassador negotiating on their behalf insists on the execution of the two pretenders as a precondition of the royal union. Initially does not want to have the innocent Warwick executed without cause, but he knows that a case has to be made against the meek and timid Earl and entrapment may be the only way to accomplish it.

Episode 13

The King Without a Face

50 mins

Henry is very pleased with his son Arthur's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. She is personable, apparently clever, and carries a large dowry. Arthur is especially pleased with his new bride. Henry encourages the young couple to visit Wales, but unfortunately the young Prince of Wales falls victim to the "sweating sickness" and dies within two days. Henry and Elizabeth are shattered by the death.The royal couple try to have an additional son, but the new child, their sixth, is a girl. Elizabeth contracts a post-natal infection and dies leaving a forlorn Henry. After unsuccessfully lobbying to marry his son's young widow, the Spanish agree to allow her to marry the King's last surviving son, the future Henry VIII.