Edward and Mary: The Unknown Tudors

- Season 1

(2002)

When Edward was just nine their father died and the young boy became King, surrounded by advisors and further distanced from his beloved elder sister. But by now they were divided not just by power and status, but also by faith. Mary was a staunch Catholic, Edward a reforming Protestant. At this time such matters were not an issue of personal choice but matters of life or death, treason or heresy.

Within a few years Mary was under virtual house arrest and banned from celebrating mass; within a few more years Edward was dead at the tragically early age of 16 and Mary became Queen. She set about making England a Catholic country once more and hundreds of Protestants, including Edward's most trusted advisors, were burnt at the stake because they refused to renounce their faith.