Charting the life of Cecil John Rhodes (Martin Shaw, Judge John Deed, Inspector George Gently), this eight part miniseries explores the achievements of one of the most successful businessmen of the 19th century. An ardent believer in British Colonialism, Rhodes was the founder of the southern African territory of Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe. As a young and impressionable man Rhodes travelled to South Africa for the benefit of his health and developed interests in the rich diversity of the land - particularly the geological rewards of mining. He soon began making a profit from mining in the Kimberley diamond mines and formed his own company, De Beers Consolidated Mines in 1888. By 1890 he was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony and later in life founded the revered Rhodes Scholarship which enables foreign nationals to study at Oxford. A remarkable man of his time who took every opportunity to become one of the great mining magnates in history, Rhodes is an epic story of power and politics.