An epic 13-part dramatisation of William Harrison Ainsworth’s historical romance, centring around the rise and fall of Lady Jane Grey

William Harrison Ainsworth was lauded by his contemporaries as a successor to Sir Walter Scott, and was named in 1847 as one of the three most popular writers in England (alongside Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Charles Dickens). His first three historical novels were inspired by the lives of Dick Turpin, ‘Honest Jack’ Sheppard and ‘the Admirable Crichton’, but with The Tower of London, he decided to base his book around a place rather than a person. Depicting the ancient citadel ‘in its triple light of a palace, a prison and a fortress’, he went on to weave a thrilling tale of power struggles, romance and political intrigue – featuring two coronations, a wedding, several executions and a siege...

It begins in July 1553, as the newly-crowned Queen Jane makes her way by barge to the Tower, where she will spend the first days of her reign. Following the death of Edward VI, she has been installed on the throne by her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, who has married her to his son Lord Guildford Dudley with hopes of making him King.

But danger lurks within the Tower’s high walls, for there are many who plot against Jane: not least Simon Renard, the Spanish Ambassador, who is determined to make Catherine of Aragon’s Catholic daughter, Mary, Queen in Jane’s place. Surrounded by enemies and betrayed by those she trusted most, Jane is led step by step to her tragic fate... Meanwhile, the beautiful Cicely, the ‘Rose of the Tower’, has fallen in love with Dudley’s squire, Cuthbert Cholmondeley, only for their budding romance to be thwarted by the villainous, jealous head jailer Nightgall. As history plays out around her, is she destined for happiness or heartbreak?

Dramatised by actor and writer Tony Van den Bergh, this riveting 1968 drama dates from the glory days of the BBC Repertory Company, and features an ensemble cast including Gudrun Ure, Peter Baldwin, Francis de Wolff, Rosalind Shanks, Garard Green and Marjorie Westbury.

With thanks to Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle

NB: This recording contains dated language and attitudes

Production credits

Written by William Harrison Ainsworth

First published 1840

Dramatised by Tony Van den Bergh

Produced and directed by R D Smith

Cast

Jane, the Queen – Gudrun Ure

Nightgall, head jailer – Peter Baldwin

Magog, a giant warder – Francis de Wolff

Ribald, his crony – Leigh Crutchley

Archbishop Cranmer/Arundel – John Wyse

Bishop Ridley – Ralph Truman

de Noailles, French Ambassador – David March

Simon Renard, Spanish Ambassador – Malcolm Hayes

Suffolk – Peter Williams

Lord Guilford Dudley – Michael Harbour

Cuthbert, his squire – Christopher Bidmead

Cicely – Beth Boyd

Gunnora, an old nurse – Phyllis Montefiore

Dame Potentia, a cook’s wife – Lynn Carson

Xit, a dwarf – Nigel Anthony

Northumberland, Lord Protector – Denis McCarthy

Princess Elizabeth – Rosalind Shanks

Queen Mary – Alexa Romanes

Lord Gardiner – Duncan McIntyre

Lord Courtenay – Douglas Hankin

Alexia, a crazed prisoner – Margaret Ford

Winchester – Rolf Lefebvre

Dean Feckenham – Geoffrey Wincott

Sir Thomas Wyatt – Garard Green

Mistress Ellen – Marjorie Westbury

Underhill – Haydn Jones

Mauger – John Holus

Other parts played by Diana Robson, Jan Edwards, Norma Griffin, Joyce Latham, Henry Webb, Norman Wynne and members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 March-5 June 1968

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