This miniseries is a prequel to The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970) and Elizabeth R (1971). Although they all played different characters, Robert James and Will Leighton appeared in the former while David Collings, James Laurenson, John Woodvine, Rachel Kempson, Peter Jeffrey, Anthony Ainley, Julian Holloway, Nicholas Selby, Michael Beint, Denis Carey, Jason Kemp and Robert Sansom appeared in the latter. No actor appeared in all three productions.
The series takes place from August 22, 1485 to February 24, 1503.