Television presenter and British historian Lucy Worsley is heading to Edinburgh and East Lothian to reinvestigate some of the biggest chapters in UK history.
In her new BBC Two show, 'Lucy Worsley Investigates', the presenter will be shining a modern light on historic events, and bringing a different view on each of her topics.
In each episode Lucy follows the evidence and brings a contemporary perspective to each mystery, exploring how changing attitudes to gender politics, class inequality, mental health and children can challenge our perceptions of the past and provide new answers to each mystery.
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Behind the clichés of pointy hats and broomsticks lies a terrifying history that’s been largely forgotten.
Four hundred years ago, thousands of ordinary people, mostly women, were hunted down, tortured, and killed in witch hunts across Scotland and England. Lucy Worsley investigates what lay behind these horrifying events.
Lucy begins her investigation in North Berwick, a seaside town near Edinburgh where the first witch hunts began.
The story goes that in 1590 a coven of witches gathered here to cast a spell to try to kill the King of Scotland, James VI.
Viewing an account from the time, called Newes From Scotland, and other first-hand sources, Lucy uncovers a web of political intrigue that led to a woman called Agnes Sampson, a faith healer and midwife, being investigated.
Agnes is accused of witchcraft and interrogated at Holyrood Castle by King James himself, before being tortured and executed.
Agnes was caught in a perfect storm - hard-line Protestant reformers intent on making Scotland devout, a King keen to prove himself a righteous leader, and a new ideology which claimed the Devil was actively recruiting women as witches.
Under torture Agnes gave the names of her supposed accomplices, some 59 other innocent people, making hers the first successful large-scale witch hunt in Scotland.
Its brutal success became the model for witch trials rolled out across Scotland and England for the next 100 years.
'Lucy Worsley Investigates...' is coming soon to BBC Two, so watch out for some Edinburgh landmarks on your television screens.
