Francis Drake was a pirate: Good Queen Bess took a cut of his profits. This week's three-part series stands back from the 400-year-old story of 'victory' and 'defeat' to look at what really happened in 1588. A number of new discoveries in archives and in the wrecks, together with new analysis by experts in many countries, means that the Armada must now be seen in a different way. In this first film the background to the story is spelled out.
The old view was that the Armada was defeated by English seadogs in smaller, less well-armed ships. The new version is that it was prevented from succeeding by bad planning, and destroyed by bad luck. But a computer analysis reveals a quite different picture. The Armada took a week to sail from Land's End to Calais. On the way there were a number of skirmishes, but the English did not sink a single Spanish ship - and on the last two days, not a shot was fired. Yet by the time it reached Calais, the Armada had been cheated of its goal.
The Armada proved unable to stand up to English gunfire. Underwater archeology offers new clues and raises new questions about the battles. The homeward voyage was long and terrible. But there was great suffering in the English fleet, too - for very different reasons. And when the Armada got home, how did Philip IIreact? The discovery of a private letter from Philip to his chaplain casts new light on the end of the story of the Armada.