This is the epic story of the stars, and how discovering their tale has transformed our own understanding of the universe.

Once we thought the sun and stars were gods and giants. Now we know, in a way, our instincts were right. The stars do all have their own characters, histories and role in the cosmos. Not least, they played a vital part in creating us.

There are old, bloated red giants, capable of gobbling up planets in their orbit; explosive deaths – supernovae – that forge the building blocks of life; and black holes, the most mysterious stellar tombstones. And, of course, stars in their prime, like our own sun.

Leading astronomers reveal how the grandest drama on tonight is the one playing above our heads.