The second season depicts the marriage of Margaret of Anjou to Henry VI. The historical Margaret was 15 years old at the time. Sophie Okonedo was 46 when she played the role.
This series marks the second time the BBC has adapted Shakespeare's history plays from Richard II to Richard III. The first was An Age of Kings (1960).
This series brings together Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott, who played archenemies on Sherlock (2010), playing Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty, respectively.
Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London. There are memorial statues of him in schools he founded.
Clémence Poésy plays the wife of King Richard II at the time he was usurped by Bolingbroke in 1399. Historically in 1399 King Richard II was married to Isabella of Valois who was only 9 years old at the time. Shakespeare however only refers to the character as Queen and he likely wrote her to be a full grown woman most likely a composite of Isabelle and Richard's first wife, Anne of Bohemia.