The chronicle of Charles II's time on the throne, his ten-year exile from Oliver Cromwell's England, and his triumphant return.

The focus of King Charles II (Rufus Sewell) is his court, his squabbling family and his glamorous mistresses - from the high-born and promiscuous Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine (Helen McCrory), through folk heroine and sex symbol of the day Nell Gwynne (Emma Pierson), to the French spy Louise de Kéroualle (Mélanie Thierry). It is an original take on a historical period written by award-winning Screenwriter Adrian Hodges, whose credits include David Copperfield (1999) and The Lost World (2001), which penetrates to the heart of the charismatic monarch who was deeply traumatized by the execution of his father.