When young I watched two fabulous Tudor dramas created by the BBC. The Six Wives of Henry VIII was made in 1970 and starred Keith Michell as Henry. Each episode was a separate play and the cast was wonderful – Annette Crosbie, Dorothy Tutin, Angela Pleasance, Bernard Hepton, and others. I learned so much from watching it and have been intrigued ever since by the six unfortunate wives.
The next year the BBC made Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson, again with an excellent cast, again done in six episodes. She was a fabulous Elizabeth.
These two series awoke my interest in the Tudors, who were generally intelligent and highly cultured monarchs – they wrote poetry, played musical instruments, took an interest in palace architecture and supported the arts in a way that few English monarchs have done since (the exception is King George IV, a non-Tudor royal who had a strong interest in the arts). I have always been interested in the social details of the Tudor world and reigns, rather than in the political side, so when I saw The Private Lives of the Tudors by Tracy Borman, I immediately bought it. It was really fascinating and gave me such insight into what they wore, ate, what medicines they took for their varied ailments, how they treated childbirth and very young children, marriage rituals, the daily routines at court, getting Henry or Elizabeth dressed each day, Queen Mary’s phantom pregnancies, even their sporting pursuits were of interest.
Elizabeth I once said “a thousand eyes see all I do”, and she was right. Women slept in her bed chamber, accompanied her all the time, and the court watched her every move. Even her laundress was quizzed about what stains were on the royal undergarments. There was no privacy for the strict and miserly King Henry VII, or his flamboyant son King Henry VIII, or for Edward VI who never lived beyond his teens, or even for poor Lady Jane Grey who was the pawn of powerful men. Bloody Mary was needy in her love for her Spanish husband and had to cope with the courts of both countries watching her every move, and then Elizabeth had to cope with all of Europe trying to marry her off and querying her virginity. If all the Tudor story appeared in a novel, you’d be tempted to think it exaggerated, but it is real history, and I am endlessly intrigued by it.
Dr Tracy Borman’s book, which was published in 2016, was very well written and a delight to read. Now I want to find those beloved TV series and watch them all over again. Good BBC dramas taught my generation so much English history. Sadly, I don’t think that’s the case today when historical dramas place little stress on accuracy.
Treat yourself to a fabulous plunge into Tudor history with this excellent book. Did you too love these BBC series in the 1970s? Let me know your thoughts in a comment.
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Penny Morris
I too have always been fascinated by Tudor and Stuart history and having recently travelled to Scotland, could not help but be exposed to a lot of Bonnie Prince Charlie stories and ongoing resentment of how the English treated the Scottish. The stories about associated personalities such as Hilary Mantel’s books about Cromwell are also good reads.
Nicole Livermore
Yes Susannah, I saw The Six Wives of Henry VIII when I was 11 and Elizabeth R when I was 12 (both in black and white) – I was mesmerised by both and they started a life long passion for Tudor history and history generally. For me they’ve never been surpassed – the lack of interest in any relationship to historical facts as they are known has made some recent series’ ridiculous and ensured they wont stand the test of time. Glad that there were other children and young people in Australia watching and profoundly affected by these two series in the early 1970’s. For me, only the BBC adaptation of Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth, and The Lost Boys, telling the truth stranger than fiction story of the author JM Barrie, were equally as good.
Brett Johnson
I too saw these at the time they were first televised. Sunday nights, Channel 2 (in Sydney). Sacred evenings of great BBC drama. The colour image reminds me that back then, we watched them in black and white. How pallid it seems now – though I think the brilliance of the costumes came through all the same. My recollection is that the focus was on the acting, in both series, with tremendously brave close ups, for example, of Glenda Jackson. And how ‘studio-bound’ they were – but this didn’t matter. I was fascinated by one of the comments in the link that the Jane Seymour episode in Six Wives included outdoor scenes, unlike any of the other five episodes. This post prompts me to find the videos and watch them again, 50 plus years later. Thanks, Susannah! One final comment – the extraordinary Cousin Bette starring Margaret Tyzack is from about this time, too. Another stunning series.