The rise of Oliver Cromwell to power during the turbulent years of the mid-17th century, charting his days as an active parliamentarian to his victory over the royal armies in the English Civil War, and his subsequent role as the country's Lord Protector. Historical drama, with Richard Harris, Alec Guinness, Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin, Frank Finlay, Patrick Magee, Charles Gray and Timothy Dalton.

Disgusted with the policies of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World. But on the eve of their departure, Cromwell is drawn into the tangled web of religion and politics that will result in the English Civil War.