Presented by Dr Clare Jackson of Cambridge University, this three-part series argues the Stuarts, more than any other, were Britain's defining royal family. We tend to take today's modern United Kingdom for granted, but there was nothing inevitable about its creation. During the 17th century, the Stuarts grappled with the chaos of three separate Kingdoms, multiple religions and civil war. Britain has not known a century like it and some of the questions this dynasty faced have not gone away.

In the opening episode, Clare looks at James VI and I's attempts to unite Scotland and England under the umbrella of his crowns and persuade his subjects to feel more 'British'. Show less