TV series
Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies. 26 episodes were produced by the BBC and initially broadcast from 30 December 1974 to 23 June 1975.
Availability
Checked Sep 3, 2026
Churchill's People premiered December 30, 1974. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies. 26 episodes were produced by the BBC and initially broadcast from 30 December 1974 to 23 June 1975.
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 1
43 AD: Lucius is one of several Roman spies sent into the offshore island of Pritan, quietly to study the ground before plans for the invasion by Emperor Claudius.
Directed by Michael HayesWritten by David RudkinGuest stars Jeremy Kemp, Bernard Archard, Frederick Jaeger, Christopher Reich, William Marlowe, Paul Darrow, Claire Davenport, Joan Rhodes
Episode 2
400 AD: Among the splendours of his palace at Eboricum (York), Roman British governor Tiberius Claudius broods on what he believes to be the end of the civilised world.
Directed by Philip SavilleWritten by Robert MullerGuest stars Richard Johnson, Arthur Lowe, Sheila Brennan, Donald Gee, Paul Copley, William Morgan Sheppard, Ian Fairbairn, John Sharp
Episode 3
654 AD: Two powerful adversaries face each other - Penda, pagan king of Mercia, and Oswy, Christian king of Northumbria.
Directed by Alan GibsonWritten by David RudkinGuest stars Leo McKern, Robert Hardy, Eric Lander, Esmond Knight, Edward Wilson, Jim Norton, Denys Hawthorne, Michael Nightingale
Episode 4
878 AD: King Alfred has suffered another defeat from the Danes and escapes through the Athelrey swamps to the safety of Odda's Hall. Disguised as a minstrel, Alfred enters the headquarters of the Viking invaders but his conversation with Chieftain Guthrum unsettles the Danes.
Directed by Herbert WiseWritten by Keith DewhurstGuest stars Alan Howard, Anna Massey, Brian Blessed, Evin Crowley, Patrick Stewart, William Simons, John Franklyn-Robbins
Episode 5
1042: Godwin, Earl of Wessex, summons Edward from out of his exile in Normandy to wear the Crown of England. But the apparent security of Godwin's Anglo-Saxan policies is disrupted by Edward's partiality for a French connection and Rome-orientated religious tendencies.
Directed by James MacTaggartWritten by James MacTaggartGuest stars John Wood, Norman Rodway, Dennis Waterman, Robert Langdon Lloyd, Jan Harvey, Richard Dennis, Stephen Bent, Geoffrey Matthews
Episode 6
1066-1070: Forest laws bring about a climax between the Saxons and the Normans.
Directed by Donald McWhinnieWritten by Ian ThorneGuest stars Geoffrey Matthews, Angela Pleasence, Vivian Pickles, Rosalie Crutchley, Rachel Thomas, Paul Hardwick, Tim Preece, George Waring
Episode 7
1160: In Norman England a man could will his movables to his kin and friends but only the next heir could inherit his land paying the overlord for the privilege. When old William de Secqueville dies he has two heirs - one is his daughter Mabel, by a disolved marriage, and the other is his nephew Richard. Egged on by his wife Maud, Richard pursues a dogged course through the courts of the new King Henry to prove Mabel illegitimate.
Directed by Michael HayesWritten by Brian RawlinsonGuest stars Julian Glover, Clive Revill, Sara Kestelman, Elizabeth Sellars, Fiona Walker, Sydney Tafler, Julian Curry, John Barrett
Episode 8
1191: King John is brought to his knees and signs the Magna Carta.
Directed by Richard MartinWritten by Adrian MitchellGuest stars Dinsdale Landen, Kenneth Griffith, Patrick Troughton, David Kernan, Ronald Lacey, Terry Wale, Clinton Greyn, Roger Hammond
Episode 9
1265: A runaway peasant accidentally witnesses a meeting between King Henry III and his chief Baron Simon de Montfort. Their argument indicates that only by a confrontation of arms between the monarch and his noble will their differences be settled. The paths of Earl Simon and Ranulf cross again at the battle of Leves where the King is defeated by Simon's forces.
Directed by Alan BridgesWritten by Alan CullenGuest stars Derek Godfrey, Daniel Massey, Helen Lindsay, Richard O'Callaghan, Christopher Benjamin, David Dundas, John Gill, Brian Vaughan
Episode 10
March 1296: The story of William Wallace, a rough Lanarkshire knight who strikes a blow for Scottish liberty by destroying the town of Lanark and its English Sheriff. The vision and zeal of Wallace rallies the dispirited commons of Scotland and the English are defeated at the battle of Stirling Bridge, but King Edward I takes charge of the retaliation which follows.
Directed by Donald McWhinnieWritten by John PrebbleGuest stars Brian Cox, Stephen Murray, Fulton Mackay, Jack Watson, Ralph Truman, John Cairney, Tom Watson, John Dunn-Hill
Episode 11
1381: Revolt in East Anglia when the peasants are pressed beyond endurance by taxes and misgovernment by inexperienced King Richard II. Bishop Henry is sent to quell the risings.
Directed by John BruceWritten by Julia JonesGuest stars Michael Jayston, David Daker, Gabrielle Lloyd, John Stratton, Gordon Gostelow, Paul Gregory, John Duttine, Peter Geddis
Episode 12
1440: When Henry V died, the feudal families of England began to prey upon each other. Royal upstarts succeeded one another until the nation was divided into two factions, the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
Directed by Mike VardyWritten by Roger WoddisGuest stars Gemma Jones, Tom Chadbon, Tony Steedman, June Brown, Terrence Hardiman, Valerie Holliman, Julian Somers, Marcelle Samett
Episode 13
1538: Hugh Goodrest, a Warwickshire Lawyer, returns to his home town of Hales Owen to find the nearby Abbey and its inmates under investigation by the King's Commissioner, Dr. Layton. Rumours of monastic dissolution have reached the townspeople and they are apprehensive because the abbey is the centre of their lives.
Directed by Michael FergusonWritten by Nick McCartyGuest stars Robert Lang, T. P. McKenna, Carleton Hobbs, Elizabeth Bell, Derek Newark, George Innes, Martin Neil, Geoffrey Beevers
Episode 14
1603-1618: Sir Walter Raleigh is tried on trumped-up charges of treason and imprisoned in the Tower. For 13 years he languishes in jail, still dreaming of a legendary Peruvian empire, its treasure, and its king. King James is finally forced to release the old man and send him to Guiana to bring back the gold he has so often talked about.
Directed by Michael HayesWritten by Brian RawlinsonGuest stars John Turner, Alfred Lynch, Gareth Thomas, John Nettleton, Hugh Dickson, Peter Halliday, Richard Morant, Graham Armitage
Episode 15
1610: A Puritan family in Nottinghamshire, hounded by King James I for their opposition to Anglican orthodoxy, go into unhappy exile in Holland and then decide to try the untried land of America.
Directed by Donald McWhinnieWritten by Jack RussellGuest stars Alfred Lynch, Robert Keegan, Peter Bourke, Cherith Mellor, Stephen Bill, Bruce Bould, John Tordoff, Keith Smith
Episode 16
January 1640: King Charles I rallies his troops to fight the Roundheads and loses his head and kingdom for the trouble.
Directed by Peter HammondWritten by Beverley CrossGuest stars Ian Hendry, Clive Francis, Polly James, Annette Crosbie, Neil McCarthy, Guy Rolfe, Patrick Barr, Bernard Hepton
Episode 17
Burford, 15 May 1649: The Puritan revolution has reached its climax. The soldiers' democracy is over and Cromwell takes his revenge.
Directed by Don TaylorWritten by Don TaylorGuest stars Bernard Hepton, Charles Kay, John Woodvine, Tony Selby, Jack Shepherd, Robin Ellis, Raymond Adamson, Peter Clay
Episode 18
1665: The Royalists return. But for John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, the Restoration means plague and despair.
Directed by Jane HowellWritten by Beverley CrossGuest stars Michael Kitchen, Denis Quilley, Isabel Dean, Diana Rayworth, Rhys McConnochie, Susan Richards, Yvonne Edgell, Sheila Ruskin
Episode 19
1689: The Protestant settlement in Ulster pre-empts King William's offensive against the Irish Jacobites. In Londonderry the apprentice boys close the gates of the town against James's troops, beginning a siege that is to cause appalling privations to its citizens.
Directed by Piers HaggardWritten by Dominic BehanGuest stars Sam Kydd, Sheila Manahan, William Hamilton, Jean Taylor Smith, George Sewell, Miles Anderson, Wesley Murphy, Patrick McAlinney
Episode 20
1720: Tom Mackenzie, a confidence trickster from Scotland, steals a certificate for £100 worth of South Sea Company stock. He uses this to gain the confidence of Mrs. Trundle, Jack Plaster and other Southwark villains and together they set up a company known as Universal Improvements Ltd. Working on the gullibility of rich and poor alike they issue shares in innumerable bogus companies for fantastic and improbable schemes. The craze escalates until even the Government and Royal Family are involved and a crash is inevitable.
Directed by Piers HaggardWritten by Adrian MitchellGuest stars Tom Conti, Rita Webb, Arthur Mullard, James Mellor, Philip Stone, Wolfe Morris, Trevor Martin, Gretchen Franklin
Episode 21
1772: The MacAmney family are evicted from their highland homestead by the landlord to make way for sheep. Selling everything they own, they embark on a perilous sea journey to Canada.
Directed by Alan GibsonWritten by Alvin RakoffGuest stars Patrick Allen, Ralph Michael, Malcolm Rennie, Craig McFarlane, Charlie Stewart, Peter Mackriel, Lawrence Douglas, Wendy Gifford
Episode 22
1775: An American judge who has settled in London reconstructs in an interview with a journalist his dispute with the radical Sam Adams, the Boston Massacre and the events which led to the Boston Tea Party.
Directed by Alvin RakoffWritten by Howard SchumanGuest stars Derek Francis, Elvi Hale, Geoffrey Palmer, Jeremy Irons, Thomas Heathcote, Lynn Dearth, Jennie Goossens, Richard Beaumont
Episode 23
1781: Jack Gable apprehensively embarks on a new career as a clerk with the East India Company in Bengal. Under aegis of the lively Jack Potts he meets some of the extraordinary characters of Calcutta society. Then, Bob, already too involved in the customary intrigue and corruption is posted up-country, leaving Jack his house, his servants and his enormous debts. In desperation Jack is forced to seek the aid of the Governor Warren Hastings.
Directed by Herbert WiseWritten by Jack RussellGuest stars Rodney Bewes, Christopher Gable, Barbara Lott, Michael Barrington, John Cater, Renu Setna, Margery Withers, Kenneth Watson
Episode 24
1797: The men of an ill-governed Royal Navy refuse to put their ships to sea. Aaron Graham, a London magistrate, is sent to investigate the circumstances leading up to the mutiny. His search leads him to dark taverns and stinking docks. His findings bear out the general disaffection. But this is not to the liking of the Government.
Directed by Kenneth IvesWritten by Julian BondGuest stars Edward Fox, Charles Gray, Alan Lake, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc, John Justin, Michael Culver, John Forgeham
Episode 25
1834: The Tolpuddle Martyrs are sent to Australia where a Tasmanian settler tries to get their service on his estates.
Directed by John GlenisterWritten by Ray LawlerGuest stars Ray Barrett, Barry Jackson, Nickolas Grace, Maryann Turner, Sally Mates, Ian Clegg, Guy Deghy, Barbara Hickmott
Episode 26
1819-1837: The story of the Cato Street Conspiracy, the plot of a radical political group to assassinate two Government ministers as a prelude to a general uprising.
Directed by Michael HayesWritten by Ken TaylorGuest stars Bryan Marshall, Roland Culver, Geoffrey Toone, Peter Bowles, Heather Page, David Battley, Denis Cleary, Donald Webster
Episode information updated Sep 3, 2026
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