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The Dynasties series has now ended. It covered over a thousand years of influence wielded by the power brokers of Britain and Ireland.

These are not the stories of the kings and queens of England. Instead, these are the tales of the powerful families who were there before the monarch was, and who were still there long after his or her reign - or even royal dynasty - had come to an end.

Indeed, these are the families who have been the political and constitutional power brokers of British history, true powers behind thrones.

New - End of Series Quiz
Answer all the questions correctly and you will be shown a password that you can enter for a chance to win the new This Sceptred Isle book and cassettes.

The Carringtons
A family close to the royalty and the corridors of power over the last two hundred years.

The Dalrymples
A powerful Scottish family that will always be remembered for the Glencoe massacre.

The Norfolks
The Norfolks survived the demise of their mentor, Richard lll, to become of the most powerful Catholic families in England.

The Russells
The Russells were a political family that also produced a great social reformer as well as one of the 20th century's greatest philosophers.

The Berkeleys
One of the great land owning families of the middle ages, they were famously involved in the grisly murder of a monarch.

The Churchills
The Churchills achieved prominence during the Restoration but rose to another zenith in the 19th and 20 centuries.

The Irish
The mighty rebel Irish peers were a thorn in the side of England until the death of the 'Great O'Neill'.

The Despensers
The first of the medieval power brokers. Their influence spanned the reigns of three monarchs yet in the end it brought them nothing but tragedy.

The Godwines
The first of the dynasties. Their power rose in late Saxon England until one of their family, Harold ll, took the crown.