Charles I: Downfall of a King airs next week on BBC4

Lisa Hilton’s sensational three part historical docudrama series Charles I: Downfall of a King airs next week (9th, 10th and 11th July at 9pm) on BBC4. The first episode Two Worlds Collide begins in 1641 with John Pym plotting to limit the King’s power.

‘A disintegrating government, a country divided, radicalised young men: it’s not hard to see why a three-part documentary about the collapse of King Charles I’s reign should seem a good topical bet right now. The historian and writer Lisa Hilton capitalises on the timing in a fascinating account of a transformative period rarely taught in schools, starting in 1641, when the threat of “popery” tormented Britain’s Puritans almost as much as an unnecessary tax on dried fruit. Leading the anti-royalist charge was John Pym, who in this episode prepares the Grand Remonstrance — a list of grievances against the king.’ The Times

Lisa Hilton is author of several history books, including Elizabeth: Renaissance Prince – A Biography and Queens Consort: England’s Medieval Queens, and historical novels. She also writes psychological thrillers as L. S. Hilton.