Katherine Howard, executed in 1542 for adultery and treason, has long polarised opinion - portrayed either as a promiscuous good-time-girl or an abused young woman.

Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the truth behind Henry VIII's fifth wife.

In the first episode, Suzannah visits Chesworth House, the home of Katherine's step-grandmother, where Katherine spent much of her youth. Here, she discovers how the Queen conducted herself in her early romantic relationships - later used by Henry as proof of her promiscuousness. She also tries her hand at playing the virginals, a 16th century keyboard, which Katherine learnt to play while at Chesworth.

At Hampton Court Palace, Suzannah explores Katherine's debut at court, and learns how she caught the eye of both courtier Thomas Culpeper and King Henry VIII. The latter would marry Katherine as soon as his marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled. Historian Gareth Russell unpacks the couples' joyful first year.

But, heading to Lincoln Cathedral, Suzannah learns how it was on the Royal Progress here in 1541 that things began to unravel for Katherine.

In the second episode, historian Gareth Russell explains how, on the Royal Progress in 1541, Katherine began a dangerous flirtation with courtier Thomas Culpeper, aided by her lady-in-waiting Lady Rochford. It would prove her undoing.

When Henry VIII, who had believed Katherine a virgin at marriage, was alerted to her pre-marital past, he ordered an immediate investigation. Soon, the whole truth would emerge and Katherine, Culpeper and those close to the Queen would find themselves in grave danger.

Suzannah sifts through trial papers and correspondence between the Queen and Culpeper, later used as evidence to condemn them both to death.