Alan visits Hardwick Hall, the magnificent Derbyshire home of Bess of Hardwick, to tell the story of how she rose from humble beginnings to become the secondmost powerful woman in Elizabethan England. Continuing the family history, Miriam O'Reilly visits nearby Stainsby Mill, Jenni Bond travels to the copper mines at Ecton and Peter Peter Purves visits Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, where Bess once held Mary, Queen of Scots, in custody.

Alan explores a French Renaissance-style chateau in the heart of the Buckinghamshire countryside which was a magnet for the great and the good of the 19th century. Clive Aslet visits Flint House, a striking example of modern architecture, on the same estate. Oz Clarke watches the restoration of a precious Dubois lacquer desk, and Alison Hammond visits Polesden Lacey.