Watch Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls Season 1 Episode 1 Online

Act One: At Court

In the first episode, Dr Lucy Worsley investigates the lives of women at the top - the king's mistresses at the royal court. When Charles and his entourage returned from exile, they came back with a host of continental ideas. Some of the women at court gained unprecedented political influence and independence. Amongst a fascinating cast of female characters, the most astonishing were Charles II's own mistresses. Lucy examines the lives of these women, discovering how their fortunes were shaped by the Restoration and how their stories reflect the atmosphere of these extraordinary years. Along her journey, Lucy gets the full mistress make-over, takes to the dance floor and treads the corridors of power. As she discovers, these women were key Restoration players, but, as Mistresses, were they truly in charge of their own destinies or were they simply part of the world's oldest profession?