Cromwell's Head

From regal burial to exhumation and decapitation, this relic of our only non-royal ruler has traveled a most peculiar path. It has been a gruesome warning to traitors, a secret prize for a soldier, an attraction at an eighteenth-century peep show, and an object of veneration and derision until it was finally laid to rest in a secret ceremony. This one-hour documentary tells the full story of this extraordinary artifact and unravels a mystery that brings to light a variety of strange tales. By looking at the passions-public and private-aroused by Cromwell and his head, it illuminates how British attitudes to monarchy, democracy, and radicalism were formed-and how they have changed, since our civil war over 350 years ago. Among the politicians and academics throwing light on Cromwell's legacy and historical impact are The Right Hon. Frank Dobson, Douglas Carswell MP, Dr. Patrick Little of The History of Parliament Trust, Prof. Blair Worden, Dr. Micheál Ó Siochrú of Trinity College Dublin, and Dr. Frances Larson, author of Severed.