Originally Aired: January 23, 1939

Lux Radio Theater #203, "Cardinal Richelieu," presents the gripping political drama of 17th century France, where the powerful Cardinal Richelieu struggles to maintain King Louis XIII's authority against scheming nobles and ambitious conspirators. The cunning Count Baradar, secretly allied with Spain, plots with the Queen Mother Marie de' Medici and the weak-willed Gaston, Duke of Orleans, to overthrow Louis and place Gaston on the throne. As feudal lords resist Richelieu's attempts to unite France, the Cardinal must navigate treacherous court intrigue, including the influence of Queen Anne, who harbors no love for him. When Baradar conspires to keep crucial military forces in Paris to ensure Spanish victory, Richelieu faces his greatest challenge.

The tension escalates as the conspirators put their signatures to paper in a plot of regicide. Richelieu races to intercept royal carriages fleeing toward the Spanish border while managing both the personal whims of his monarch and the deadly ambitions of those who would destroy everything he has built for France. The Cardinal must use all his cunning and influence to save the kingdom from foreign conquest and civil war.