Michael Chaplin’s five-part drama about the death of Queen Victoria.

For two weeks the nation stopped in its tracks, mesmerised by the mortality of a little old lady who had sat on the throne for over 60 years. Her children squabbled, her doctors quarrelled, her army bickered and the public were misled and kept in the dark.

This is the remarkable story of Queen Victoria's final days and the chaos and confusion surrounding her funeral, told by those who were there.

Not many get this close to history.

It's 1953 and, on the eve of Elizabeth II’s coronation, the BBC interviews Queen Victoria’s dresser, Winnie Powell, who takes us on a journey into the past.

Based on the book Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s, an eyewitness history by Stewart Richards.

Queen Victoria …... Brigit Forsyth
Old Winnie Powell …... Marcia Warren
Interviewer .….. Carl Prekopp
Mary Tuck …... Wendy Nottingham
Young Winnie Powell …... Lauren Cornelius
Sir James Reid …... Ross F Sutherland
Sir Frederick ‘Fritz’ Ponsonby …... Tom Turner
Kaiser Wilhelm …... Hywel Morgan
Prince of Wales …... Gerard McDermott

Other parts played by members of the cast.

Director: Carl Prekopp

Producers: Lucinda Mason Brown & Stewart Richards

A Stewart Richards / Goldhawk Essential co-production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2018. Show less