By Amanda Foreman, dramatised in 15 parts by Jennifer Curry.

1: Society Wedding, 1774.
In the late 18th century, Georgiana Spencer married into the powerful Duke of Devonshire's family and became the most celebrated woman of her age.
Repeated from 10.45am

Beautiful, clever, influential, rich, fashionable and the darling of the press, Georgiana seemed to have it all. Yet this 18th-century Duchess of Devonshire endured many trials, including a miserable marriage to a serially unfaithful man. Amanda Foreman's magnificent, best-selling biography has been elegantly dramatised, with a splendid cast, and is the new Woman's Hour serial. It has taken ages for R4 to fill this slot adequately but at last it is getting very much better.