Lund Studio Productions · Series Pitch
FOR HBO / MAX
War of the Roses
The bloodiest succession crisis in English history. The family that tore itself apart.
30 years. Two roses. One throne. A prestige drama spanning the complete Wars of the Roses — from the madness of Henry VI to the rise of the Tudors. Every betrayal real. Every battle documented. Every death historical. This is the English Game of Thrones — except every word of it happened.
The Pitch
Game of Thrones was inspired by this. We’re telling the real one.
George R.R. Martin has openly stated that the Wars of the Roses were his primary inspiration for the war between the Starks and Lannisters. Lancaster. Lannister. York. Stark. The mad king. The boy king. The kingmaker. The princes in the tower. It’s all there.
But the real history is more savage, more complex, and more dramatically satisfying than the fiction. Martin had to invent dragons. History gave us Warwick the Kingmaker — a man who put two different kings on the throne, switched sides, married his daughter to the enemy prince, and died at Barnet in a fog so thick neither army could see the other.
History gave us Margaret of Anjou — a French queen more ruthless than Cersei, who commanded armies while her husband sat in a cell mumbling prayers. History gave us Richard III — the uncle who may have murdered his own nephews to steal the crown, then died screaming “Treason!” as his own men abandoned him at Bosworth.
This is not a costume drama. This is Succession with swords. The Crown with blood. The most cinematic 30 years in English history, never told properly on screen.
Season 1 · 8 Episodes
The Madness
1453 – 1461
Henry VI loses his mind. Margaret of Anjou takes control. Richard of York stakes his claim. The first blood spills at St Albans. A boy becomes king at Towton — the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil, in a snowstorm, with 28,000 dead. Edward IV takes the crown.
Key episodes: The King’s Madness · Margaret Takes Command · St Albans · Wakefield (York dies) · Mortimer’s Cross (Three Suns) · Towton
Battles: St Albans I · Blore Heath · Ludford Bridge · Northampton · Wakefield · Mortimer’s Cross · St Albans II · Towton
Season 2 · 8 Episodes
The Kingmaker
1461 – 1471
Edward IV rules. But Warwick — the man who made him king — wants control. When Edward secretly marries Elizabeth Woodville instead of the French princess Warwick had arranged, the alliance shatters. Warwick switches to Lancaster. Puts Henry VI back on the throne. Edward flees to Burgundy. Then returns. Kills Warwick at Barnet in the fog. Kills Margaret’s son at Tewkesbury. Henry VI dies in the Tower. Edward rules alone.
Key episodes: The Secret Marriage · Warwick’s Fury · The Readeption · Edward Returns · Barnet (Death in the Fog) · Tewkesbury · The Tower
Battles: Hedgeley Moor · Hexham · Edgecote · Losecote Field · Barnet · Tewkesbury
Season 3 · 8 Episodes
The Brothers
1471 – 1483
Peace. But the rot is inside the house. Edward IV’s brother George of Clarence, who switched sides twice, is executed — allegedly drowned in a barrel of wine. Edward dies unexpectedly at 40. His 12-year-old son becomes Edward V. Richard of Gloucester, the loyal brother, is named Protector. Then the Protector becomes the predator.
Key episodes: The Barrel of Wine · Edward’s Court · The King Dies Young · The Protector · The Princes · Richard Takes the Crown
Battles: None (the calm before the storm)
Season 4 · 8 Episodes
The Princes in the Tower
1483 – 1485
Richard III. The most controversial king in English history. Did he murder the princes? The boys disappear. Margaret Beaufort, the most patient woman in England, has been waiting decades for this moment. She promotes her son Henry Tudor. Elizabeth Woodville, the mother of the disappeared princes, allies with her former enemy. The conspiracy builds. Henry lands in Wales. Bosworth Field. Richard charges. His own men betray him. A crown is found in a thornbush.
Key episodes: The Disappearance · Margaret’s Web · The Mother’s Alliance · Henry Sails · The March Through Wales · Bosworth · The Crown in the Thornbush
Battles: Buckingham’s Rebellion · Bosworth Field
Season 5 · 8 Episodes
The Tudor Rose
1485 – 1487
Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York. Red rose meets white. The Tudor dynasty begins. But pretenders emerge. Lambert Simnel claims to be the Earl of Warwick. The Battle of Stoke Field — the true final battle. Henry survives. The war is over. The dynasty that will produce Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and the English Reformation has begun. England will never be the same.
Key episodes: The Wedding · The Tudor Rose · The Pretender · Stoke Field · The Dynasty Begins
Battles: Stoke Field (the true final battle)