Part 1: Act
One: At Court Lucy Worsley explores the captivating lives of the women of the
period. The years after the Civil War and the Restoration of Charles II marked
the end of the medieval and the beginning of the modern age. These were
exciting times for women and some rose to prominence like never before. Some
had remarkably modern attitudes and ambitions and achieved wealth, celebrity
and power that still seems outstanding even by 21st century standards. But, at
the same time, they faced a world that was still predominantly male,
misogynistic and positively medieval in its outlook. Lucy investigates the
lives of the king’s mistresses at the royal court, amongst them the royalist
Barbara Villiers, the French spy Louise de Keroualle and the Cockney actress
Nell Gwynn. Along her journey, she gets the full mistress make-over, takes to
the dance floor and treads the corridors of power.
Part 2: Act
Two: At Home Lucy looks at the ordinary as well as the extraordinary lives of
women in the home, in an age when respectable women were defined by their
marital status as maids, wives or widows. If they fell outside these
categories they were in danger of being labelled whores or, at worst, witches.
While history has left many women voiceless over the centuries, Lucy discovers
that in the Restoration a surprising number of women were beginning to
question their roles in relationship to their husbands, their position in the
home, their attitudes to sex and, most importantly, the expectation to produce
children. Meeting a host of experts and experiencing what life was like behind
closed doors, Lucy explores whether their lives changed for better or worse
during the second half of the 17th century.
Part 3: Act
Three: At Work and at Play Lucy looks at some of the most remarkable women of
the age, including writers, actresses, travellers and scientists. Against a
backdrop of religious and political turmoil, the rise of print culture, the
rapid growth of London, the burgeoning scientific revolution and the country’s
flourishing trading empire, she meets a host of female mavericks who took
advantage of the extraordinary changes afoot to challenge the traditional male
bastions of society. Women like Nell Gwyn, the most famous of a new generation
of actresses; Aphra Behn, the first professional female writer; and Christian
Davies, who disguised herself as a man to fight as a soldier - all of them
gained notoriety and celebrity, challenging the inequalities of the age. As
Lucy discovers, these women’s attitudes, ambitions and achievements were
surprisingly modern.
