Elizabeth R is a BBC television drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson in the title role. It was first broadcast on terrestrial channel BBC Two from February to March 1971, through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia and broadcast in America on the premiere season of PBS 's Masterpiece Theatre. The acclaimed series is considered to be a largely accurate historical portrayal of the life of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
[edit] Episodes
- The Lion's Cub - The fragile succession heralds dangerous times for the young Princess Elizabeth. Having narrowly avoided implication in Sir Thomas Seymour's attempted abduction of her sickly half-brother, the boy King Edward VI; she becomes an unintentional figurehead for a Protestant rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt the Younger when her half-sister Queen Mary I of England, a devout Roman Catholic, succeeds to the throne. Will the Princess Elizabeth survive her emotionally unstable half-sister's reign?
- The Marriage Game - The new Queen Elizabeth I is 25 years old - and unmarried. Her council, particularly the man she trusts most Sir William Cecil, urges her to marry quickly, (to ensure the succession, among other valid reasons). Only Lord Robert Dudley, at first her Master of the Horse, and eventually the Earl of Leicester, seems to interest the Queen. When Dudley's wife dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth must decide if she really wants to marry; and if so, is Dudley the right choice?
- Shadow in the Sun - Elizabeth meets her most eligible suitor yet: Francois, Duke of Anjou. A marriage will cement France's sought-for alliance with England. Both Sir William Cecil and Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex (especially the latter), eagerly support this marriage offer. Despite the Puritans' rousing opposition in the country (which her zealously anti-catholic councillor Sir Francis Walsingham secretly approves of), Elizabeth seems taken with the witty and flower-tongued Francois. As her duties as Queen clash with her feelings as a woman (and she discovers to her fury that Dudley has secretly married her cousin Lettice Knollys), Elizabeth faces her toughest decision. In the end, her good friend and councillor Sussex helps Elizabeth make her painfully honest, final decision. Elizabeth does not want to marry - ever!!
- Horrible Conspiracies - As long as the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots lives, she is the focus of plotters and revolutionaries. Despite a harsh clampdown against conspiring Roman Catholics, Mary (in domestic exile and Elizabeth's prisoner for nearly twenty years), inspires an earnest attempt to overthrow Elizabeth. Is the execution of Mary the only way Elizabeth will remain on the throne? Sir Francis Walsingham definitely thinks so, and will use any means to convince Elizabeth to eliminate Mary. But Elizabeth fears Mary's death will condemn her in the eyes of God. In the end, Elizabeth makes a final choice.
- The Enterprise of England - Whispers of war fill the air in Elizabeth's court and in Spain. The infirm King Philip II of Spain is eager to avenge the death of Mary, Queen of Scots, (and incidentally , make good on his inheritance from Mary as the Catholic claimant to the English throne - which Mary bequeathed to him). Philip urges an unprepared fleet, commanded by the incompetent Duke of Medina Sidonia, to sail on England. Even as Elizabeth rebukes the hawks (privateers) in her council (both Walsingham and Sir Francis Drake), with hopes of peace (encouraged by Cecil, who is now Lord Burghley), the Spanish Armada appears on the horizons of England. Her fate and the future of the country now lie in the hands of Drake, and the Navy. England triumphs, but Elizabeth pays a heavy emotional price with the death of her beloved Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
- Sweet England's Pride - "He is the sun in splendour, he is all our pride." Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex ( the stepson of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and the son-in-law of Francis Walsingham), is the people's champion, but he openly disputes the Queen's opinions. Elizabeth 'rewards' his daring feats in Spain with a tougher challenge: to quell the Irish uprising led by O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. But Essex has a rebellion of his own in mind. Can an old and dying Queen face a final challenge to her throne? And who will her successor be?
[edit] Production
The first episode was broadcast on 19 February 1971, beginning on screen in the year 1548 with the then Princess Elizabeth's difficult ascent to the throne of England ten years later. The final episode was shown on 24 March, the 368th anniversary of the Queen's death.
The series was a follow-up to the successful Six Wives of Henry VIII of 1970. Bernard Hepton as Cranmer, Basil Dignam as Bishop Gardiner, John Ronane as Thomas Seymour, and Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr, reappeared in the same roles in Elizabeth R.
Glenda Jackson's tour de force performance in the title role won her 2 Emmy Awards - for Best Actress in a Drama Series and Best Actress in a Movie/TV Special (for the episode "Shadow in the Sun"). The series itself won the Emmy for the Best Dramatic Series of 1972.
Costume designer Elizabeth Waller recreated many of the historical Elizabeth 's actual gowns for Glenda Jackson, adapting them from a number of the Queen's famous, official portraits.
Elizabeth R also starred many well-known television actors, including Malcolm McFee, Michael Williams, Margaretta Scott, John Woodvine, James Laurenson, Angela Thorne, Brian Wilde, Robin Ellis, Robert Hardy and Peter Egan.
It was parodied in Monty Python's Flying Circus when they portrayed the cast on motor-scooters and speaking Engrish. Therefore the title was changed to Erizabeth L.
Released on DVD by BBC/Warner in 2001.
[edit] In other countries
The series was broadcast in other countries: Netherlands (26 January 1972), Poland (13 February 1972), USA (13 February 1972) Belgium (7 September 1973) Greece (autumn 1974) and Australia on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (initially in 1972, and again in 1978).
[edit] External links
