Masterpiece: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen

When the unpopular “Bloody Mary” dies in 1558 and Bess becomes queen -- Elizabeth I. Her constantly scheming courtiers' top priority is to get her married to a suitable crowned head, but she demurs.

Elizabeth I survives the threat of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, and four decades of palace intrigue. But her finest hour, the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, is marred by the death of her beloved Robert Dudley.