What's The Real History Behind Your Favourite Movies & TV Shows? - HistoryExtra

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Charles (Josh O'Connor) and Diana (Emma Corrin) in 'The Crown', left; and the real royal couple dancing in Sydney

Netflix’s The Crown: the real history behind the royal drama

The Spanish Princess Part II. (Image by Starz)

The real history behind The Spanish Princess

Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred in season 4 of 'The Last Kingdom'

The Last Kingdom: the real history behind the series

Enola Holmes (left to right): Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes, Sam Caflin as Mycroft Holmes. (Photo by Robert Viglaski/Legendary)

From Enola Holmes to Fanny Dickens: recognising 5 historical women ‘overshadowed’ by their more famous brothers

Rege-Jean Page as Simon Basset and Phoebe Dynevor as Daphne Bridgerton

The best historical TV shows and movies to stream in 2021

Portrait of Madam CJ Walker, America's first female millionaire. (Photo courtesy of Madam Walker Family Archives/A'Lelia Bundles)

Self Made: the real story of Madam CJ Walker, America’s first black female millionaire

The real history behind every episode of The Crown S4

Prince Charles with his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten at Windsor

Why was Lord Mountbatten, Prince Charles’s great-uncle, assassinated?

Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, with her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, after their marriage in 1947. (Corbis via Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip: 8 milestones in their marriage

Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher attend a ball to celebrate the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, 1979 in Lusaka, Zambia. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II: what was their relationship like?

Charles and Camilla, 1979

Prince Charles and Camilla: a history of their romance

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E10 real history: Thatcher’s resignation and the unravelling of a royal marriage

Emma Corrin as Diana, Princess of Wales and Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E9 real history: Prince Charles’s ski avalanche accident and his failing marriage to Diana

Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E8 real history: why did Margaret Thatcher & the Queen clash over apartheid in South Africa?

Helen Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret in 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E7 real history: Princess Margaret’s decline and a royal secret revealed

Diana, Princess of Wales, played by Emma Corrin in Netflix's 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E6 real history: Charles and Diana’s 1983 royal tour of Australia & the start of ‘Dianamania’

Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher in season 4 of 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E5 real history: Michael Fagan’s Buckingham Palace break-in and the Falklands crisis

Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II and Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E4 real history: mothers in the spotlight and the ‘favourite’ royal child

Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer on her wedding day in season 4 of 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E3 real history: Diana’s struggles, the ‘G’ & ‘F’ bracelet, and a royal engagement

Find out the real history behind your favourite TV shows

Browse expert articles on the real historical stories and people that inspired your favourite period dramas, from Netflix's The Crown to the BBC's Peaky Blinders and Vikings on Amazon Prime…

The Crown (© Netflix, Robert Viglasky)

The Crown

The Spanish Princess, starring Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon, charts the story of the woman who married into the Tudor dynasty. (Image credit: Starz)

The Spanish Princess

The Last Kingdom. (Carnival Films 2015/Kata Vermes)

The Last Kingdom

Peaky Blinders. (Photo by BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky)

Peaky Blinders

Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha in 'Vikings'. (Image by Alamy)

Vikings

Jenna Coleman as Victoria. (Image by ITV Pictures)

Victoria

The cast of Downton Abbey in front of Highclere Castle. (Image by Alamy)

Downton Abbey

What's the real history behind your favourite movies?

Browse expert articles on the real history that inspired the best historical stories on the big screen

Timothée Chalamet as Prince Hal

The King

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in 'The Favourite'. (Photo by Twentieth Century Fox/Entertainment Pictures)

The Favourite

'Yorktown' sustains a hit during the battle of Midway. The US aircraft carrier sank three days later but, by then, the Japanese had accepted that their attempt to land a war-winning blow had failed. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Midway

A still from Sam Mendes film '1917'

1917 (film)

TV and film on the HistoryExtra podcast

Listen to our interviews about the latest historical movies and TV…

A panel of experts tackle the big questions surrounding period drama in the 21st century and ask: what’s next? (Images by Getty, Channel 5 and Alamy)

What’s next for period drama?

Catherine Fletcher discusses what is known about the private life and relationships of the Renaissance polymath, and considers the historical inspirations for the new TV drama Leonardo. (Image by Getty Images)

Leonardo da Vinci’s private life

Frank Spotnitz and Steve Thompson, creators of the new drama 'Leonardo' starring Aidan Turner, talk about the inspirations behind their series on the Renaissance polymath. (Image by © Fabio Lovino)

Leonardo: bringing Da Vinci to the screen

Pod Rebecca Wragg S WL

Ammonite and the real fossil hunter Mary Anning