Alan Bates

James Wilby and Juliet Aubrey portray the reluctant royals who became king and queen of England when Edward VIII gave up the throne for the woman he loved.

A legendary heroine, Scheherazade, saves her kingdom and her own life by seducing her husband with the fantastical tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and other larger-than-life heroes, warriors and djinns.

In 1953, Desmond Doyle takes on the Irish family law system and the Catholic Church in a bid to be reunited with his children. Despite a strong work ethic, Desmond has a hard time holding on to steady work. Desmond's wife walks out on the relationship and his sporadic employment eventually attracts the attention of the law. A court order sends his two sons and young daughter to separate Catholic orphanages until Desmond can prove he's capable of properly...

Local MP and schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind raises his children, Louisa and Tom, in the utilitarian fashion, stressing reason and fact and dismissing imagination and emotion. Under his influence, Louisa grows cold while Tom turns to a secret life of drinking and gambling. To be nearer her brother, Louisa accepts an offer of marriage from his boss, the self-mad, self-important banker Josiah Bounderby, though she does not love him. But soon finds herself...