He was the the eldest son of Queen Victoria who ruled Great Britain for more than half a century. When he ascended the throne after her death in 1901, he reigned for only nine years. Yet he was still as strong a symbol of the times as his mother had been.

"When An Age of Kings was first broadcast, it was the most conceptually ambitious Shakespeare project ever attempted for either film or television. Its fifteen parts encompassed Richard II, both parts of Henry IV, Henry V, all three parts of Henry VI and Richard III, effectively presenting a chronological history of British royalty from 1377 to 1485. An Age of Kings' adapter Eric Crozier cut the text into schedule-friendly 60 and 75 minute episodes....