ZDF, Arte, Blue Ant team up for Civil War documentary series from One Tribe TV

A Kingdom in Chaos looks at events including the execution of Charles I

UK producer One Tribe TV has been commissioned by ZDF and Canada’s Blue Ant Studios to produce a documentary series examining the British Civil Wars, the execution of King Charles I and the restoration of the monarchy for German-French cultural channel Arte.

A Kingdom in Chaos will comprise two 60-minute episodes and one 90-minute special, combining high-end drama reconstruction with expert testimony to explore how England descended into civil war, executed its king, abolished the monarchy and established a republic before restoring the crown within a few turbulent years.

The series examines the fall of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland, the short-lived English Republic, and the dramatic return of Charles II. It also charts the wider European impact, from the witch trials of the 1640s to the stirrings of revolution in France a century later.

A Kingdom in Chaos is produced and directed by Mimi Templar-Gay, with Owen Gay from One Tribe serving as executive producer. The series was commissioned by Peter Allenbacher at ZDF/Arte and Lilla Hurst at Blue Ant Studios. Blue Ant Rights is handling international distribution.

Gay, co-founder of One Tribe, said: “This is history at its most visceral – bloody battles, daring escapes, merciless revenge and seismic political upheaval. But it’s also a story with urgent modern resonance. As England crowns a new King Charles, A Kingdom in Chaos explores what lessons history still has to teach us about power, leadership and belief.”

Allenbacher, senior editor at ZDF/Arte, added: “A Kingdom in Chaos provides a brilliant insight into a pivotal moment of British history, as well as the development of political thought in Western European society. In modern times, people cannot imagine what it meant to an ordinary 17th-century citizen to condemn to death – and decapitate – their God-appointed king.”

One Tribe TV produces a range of popular and specialist factual content, with recent series including In the Footsteps of Marco Polo for CCTV and Blue Ant, Sex: A Bonkers History for Sky History, The Emerald Isles for BBC and TG4, and Wonders of the Celtic Deep for the BBC.