Plot Synopsis

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SECRET AGENTS is a three-part documentary series that reveals the network of spymasters and secret agents that helped keep Queen Elizabeth I in power for more than 40 years by protecting her from assassination, terror and treason. During a time when Britain was divided, unstable and violent, the world's first secret service was born. Run by William and Robert Cecil, this father-and-son team had the duty of protecting the Queen and the Country. This series asks leading historians to each study the period from a different key player's point of view, dissecting the minds and motivations of the protagonists, to reveal a covert spy network -- and present a picture of the Elizabethan Court as it really was. The series takes viewers through the biggest events of the period, from the entrapment and execution of Mary Queen of Scots to the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the capture and escape of Catholic fugitive John Gerard and the most infamous terrorist conspiracy in British history: the Gunpowder Plot. PBS aired the U.S. premiere of this series on Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 10pm (check local listings). In the series opener, William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I's spy master, intercepts a conspiracy to assassinate the queen. When he learns that Elizabeth's own cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, is behind the plot, he lays a trap to capture and execute her.
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On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 10pm (check local listings), PBS premiered the finale of QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SECRET AGENTS. In the series ender, England has a new monarch, King James I, and Elizabeth's former spymaster Robert Cecil faces his toughest test. A group of religious extremists plans to blow up the Houses of Parliament with the king inside in what's become known as the Gunpowder Plot.