Season 1

John Guy, Kate Williams and Robert Hutchinson are among those debating the legacy of one of Britain's most tragic monarchs as they examine whether Mary, Queen of Scots, was a victim of her cousin Elizabeth I's treachery or the author of her own destruction. They look at her claim to the English throne and the events that led to Mary being kept under house arrest for nearly 20 years before she was executed in 1587.

Helen Rappaport and Dominic Lieven are among the writers, thinkers and historians exploring the downfall and legacy of Grigori Rasputin. The Siberian peasant and faith healer rose from obscurity to become an adviser to Tsar Nicholas II and his family, before being assassinated in December 1916, and the contributors examine whether he was motivated by sex addiction or was a seer who only wanted the best for Russia.

Writer and actor Mark Gatiss, academic Hannah Dawson and human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson are among those giving their views on the life and death of Charles I, who ruled England, Scotland and Ireland for more than 20 years in the 17th century. The king was put on trial for treason in January 1649 in an unprecedented attempt to try the institution of the monarchy as well as Charles himself, who was found guilty of treason and executed.

Was Jesus crucified because it was ordained, or because he was a threat to Roman rule? Retired Anglican bishop Tom Wright and writer Naomi Alderman are among the authors and historians considering the evidence and offering their interpretations of the man behind one of history's most powerful stories.

Was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 a spectacular act of rebellion, or a fanatical act of terrorism? Retelling the last days in the life of Guy Fawkes, counter-extremism expert Haras Rafiq, Alice Hogge and Ronald Hutton make the case for and against the man whose actions continue to set the country ablaze every year over 400 years after his death.

More than 2,000 years after the event, the assassination of Roman dictator Julius Caesar still fascinates like no other act of political violence. Novelist Robert Harris, historian Neil Faulkner and classicist Maria Wyke are among the experts examining whether it was the necessary execution of a tyrant who would stop at nothing in his pursuit of power, or a cowardly murder.