Catherine the Great hijacked a country she wasn't born to rule. Her prize was a vast empire, awesome wealth and powe, all built on the backs of slaves, peasants and serfs. To cling to power in a cutthroat world, she would have to overthrow and assassinate her husband, battle the Ottoman Turks to submission - and face the wrath of the Russian people in a massive rebellion. Surviving these trials would make Catherine one of the greatest of all Russian rulers - an icon ofimperial power.

King Henry VIII of England had everything any man could ever desire. But he blew it all for the sexual favours of Ann Boleyn, a tart-tongued, two-timing, power-hungry gold-digger. King Henry's descent into obsession, violence and brutality went far beyond mere infatuation with Anne Boleyn. Henry wielded power like an axe, to persecute and kill those who didn't meet his needs or back his personal interpretation of God's will. Explore the hidden truth of the mania that spawned Henry's degeneration from pious poster-boy for absolute monarchy to an obese, serial wife-killer - and a grotesque caricature of the evils of unchecked power and egotism.

In a dank prison cell, Tsar Peter the Great - the six-foot seven-inch giant who literally re-invented Russia - orders the torture of his greatest antagonist, the only man on Earth who could undermine Peter's lifelong tidal wave of radical reform... his son. For 25 years Tsar Peter struggled to drag Russia out of the Dark Ages, brutalizing his people in his quest. Anyone or anything that stood in his way all faced destruction, dishonour or death. No man dared say no to the reformer Tsar- no man but one: the heir to his Empire, his son Alexei. Alexei fled the country to escape his father's iron will; but Peter couldn't risk allowing his heir to live free. And so the Tsar tracked down his own son like an escaped convict, kidnapped him and set about to change his blood heir's old Russian soul the only way Peter knew how - by brute force.

By exploring the astonishing and dramatic course of Napoleon's 100 Days - the period during which Napoleon escaped from exile and marched on Paris to conquer Europe once again -The Emperor Strikes Back opens the essential window that reveals the inside story behind modern history's greatest conqueror. Critical moments from the end of his career - from Napoleon's initial abdication, failed suicide and banishment to his unprecedented return to Imperial glory and his ultimate humiliating defeat- dovetail with flashbacks from throughout his life and military career. The show recreates moments of high-stakes political brinksmanship and flashes of military genius- the legendary turning points that transformed a short and short-tempered artillery officer into a towering giant of history.