Richard II, having proved his mettle in quelling the Peasants' Revolt, disappoints his courtiers as he pursues peace and culture as an alternative to fighting and swiving.

Mike Walker's trilogy - inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles.

'Plantagenet' tells the story of the birth of a new Europe after the dark ages. The issues of control, of freedom, of belief, above all, perhaps, the temptations of power which are so familiar to us now were new to an age which had no template for domination on this scale.

Stars Patrick Kennedy as Richard II, Blake Ritson as Henry Bolingbroke, Alex Tregear as Queen Ann, Peter Polycarpou as Gloucester, Sean Baker as John of Gaunt, James Lailey as DeVere, Stuart McLoughlin as Burley, Simon Bubb as Tyler, Daniel Rabin as Walworth, Jonathan Forbes as John Ball, Claire Harry as Joan and Alun Raglan as Welshman.

Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Jessica Dromgoole.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011. Show less