In 1953, the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth set off on a six month, 45,000 mile, round-the-world journey. The Coronation Tour was the most ambitious royal tour ever undertaken, and would radically change Britain’s relationship with the world. On the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth, actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah retraces the young Queen’s journey across five continents. Intercut with rarely seen archive footage from the tour, this four-part series is the story of Britain’s fight to keep its status as a world power even while its empire was slipping away.

Monday 10 August 2009
9:00pm