A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy

On October 31st, 1517 a penniless monk named Martin Luther posted his now-famous diatribe denouncing the corruption of the medieval world's largest and most powerful institution. His forerunners had been burned alive for similar statements, but Luther had a new tool at his disposal—the recently invented printing press. Martin Luther chronicles the real life story of the seismic upheaval that rocked the western world in the early 1500s. Against all odds, a lonely outcast stood up to the world's dominant superpower—the Catholic Church—and won. It was a battle of ideas that formed Western society as we know it today, sparking the rise of individualism, universal education, religious freedom and new roles for church and state. Narrated by Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and starring Padraic Delaney (The Tudors), this highly-visual docudrama uses full-scale dramatizations to tell a great adventure story. With treacherous intrigue, outsized personalities and famous showdowns, it does not shy away from the darker side of Martin Luther's story. (PBS)