The First Churchills (1969)

At the court of Charles II, young John Churchill advances his career by serving the king’s bastard son, Monmouth, in the field of battle, and by bedding the king’s mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland. Young Sarah Jennings is also advancing at court, by befriending the king’s sister-in-law, the Duchess of York, and teaching the York princesses, Mary and Anne, the art of gambling. At a court masque, the two meet, and sparks fly.

In 1675 a masque was performed at the Court of Charles II at Whitehall. There the young soldier John Churchill, Groom of the Bedchamber to the King's brother, fell in love with a pretty lady-in-waiting, Sarah Jennings.

John and Sarah have married. Lord Shaftesbury has threatened Charles with rebellion. To appease his Protestant Parliament, Charles has arranged a marriage between Mary and the Prince of Orange.

The rage against Popery in England continues. James, Duke of Monmouth, has become the protégé of Shaftesbury who plans to make him King. But Churchill has refused to support Monmouth. Charles has resisted all pressure to disinherit his brother James.

Charles has been forced to send James into exile and to dissolve his factious parliament at Oxford. The Princess Anne has married George, Prince of Denmark, and has chosen Sarah to be one of her Ladies of the Bedchamber.

Monmouth, the hope of the Protestant rebels, was defeated by John Churchill at Sedgemoor.

John Churchill owed much to James II. But the King was clearly determined to destroy the Protestant religion and the laws of England, so John decided to support William of Orange and the Revolution of 1688.

William III, with Churchill's help, has defeated James' attempted invasion of Ireland. John has been suspected of treason and dismissed from Court. Princess Anne has refused to obey her sister Mary and part with Sarah.

In an atmosphere of national panic John, falsely accused of Jacobite treachery, has been imprisoned for a time in the Tower. After Mary's death, William receives Anne at Court.

Before he died William III recognised Marlborough as his successor in the task of defeating France. With the accession of Anne, John and Sarah have risen to a position of pre-eminence.

To save the Holy Roman Empire from French invasion Marlborough led his allied troops into Germany and defeated the French at the Battle of Blenheim.

Marlborough continues his success in the war against France, but his prestige at home and with Anne has been impaired by the devious backstairs intrigue of Robert Harley.