Nicholas and Alexandra

This first episode reveals the obstacles Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra overcame during what was a rather unconventional start to their Royal relationship. But having survived the challenges of a long-distance relationship as well as incompatible religious upbringings, their relationship blossomed and the two were eventually married as the young Tsar assumed control of the Russian Empire.

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb continues exploring Nicholas and Alexandra's complex love story and the couple's role in the lead up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to their eventual brutal and tragic executions.

Tsar Nicholas II and his wife the Empress Alexandra's decisions during the war led to widespread public anger and a revolution that would eventually bring a tragic and brutal end to Tsar Nicholas' reign, making him the last Emperor of Russia. But throughout this tragic fall from grace and power, their love remained as strong as ever, as clearly evident in the letters they wrote to each other now housed at The State Archives of the Russian Federation. Though the Romanov family were eventually brutally murdered as the Revolution took hold, history has been kinder to Tsar Nicholas and Empress Alexandra, and in recent years the family were canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Perhaps a fitting end to what is widely recognised as one of the great love stories that played out around the disintegration of one of the world's great superpowers.