Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents

Elizabethan England was a time of court intrigue, violence, warfare, and deeply divided loyalties. It was also a time of plots, during which Elizabeth I improbably managed to reign on England's throne for over 40 years (1558-1603). Narrated by Colin Tierney, this three-part PBS/BBC documentary describes an early secret service team—led by William Cecil and later his son Robert—who guarded Elizabeth, using stool pigeons, surveillance, forgery, and double agents. At the time, England was a Protestant enclave surrounded by a Catholic Europe. A major threat was posed by Elizabeth's cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Layers of intrigue were employed to entrap Mary, although William incurred the great displeasure of Elizabeth when he allowed Mary to be executed before the monarch gave the order (historians debate whether her tantrum was motivated by grief or guilt, or was simply a case of method acting). Security for Elizabeth was complicated because she prided herself on her "common touch," mingling frequently with her subjects. When Elizabeth died, a succession crisis followed, ending with the ascent of Scotland's King James as the new ruler of England. Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, a spectacular terrorist plot was foiled when Guy Fawkes failed to decapitate the government by blowing up Parliament. In an age when offenders were "shown the rack," or drawn and quartered while alive, early intelligence work was a bloody, barbaric business. Likely to appeal to Anglophiles and history buffs, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)