![]() There is something about the whole production that feels like a Shakespeare play, which seems most appropriate. In short, we better appreciate that these people lived and breathed, loved and hated, wept and rejoiced, much as we do now. This intimacy creates a reality that fosters a closeness with the era, although these people lived 400 to 450 years before our present time. Conversations with the likes of William Cecil (Lord Burghley), Queen Mary I, Philip II of Spain, and of course Queen Elizabeth I herself are at a human level rather than at a distance. ![]() Instead of seeing the monarch upon a distant throne in a palace hall, the viewer feels adjacent to these people, many of whom have become almost iconic. By contrast, the 1971 BBC production brings the viewer right into the middle of 1500's England as if you are walking around the halls and chambers with the personages from the 16th century. Former Hollywood offerings of the same subject, particularly the ones starring Betty Davis, had a fairy-tale ambiance that made the era seem more otherworldly rather than historical. In addition to the superlative performance by Jackson, the entire production conveys the atmosphere of mid-to-late 1500's England. Jackson's performance and unparalleled historical scholarship bring the era back to life and have ensured Elizabeth R's ranking as one of the great screen biographies. However, many of the old Medieval sensibilities were being displaced by an enthusiasm for discovery, science, culture, arts, and tolerance that we now call the Renaissance, and Queen Elizabeth I was the central figure in England's contribution to this rebirth of culture. Or, better stated, Jackson, along with her cast, crew, and the BBC, transported television audiences to another era, another time when chivalry still existed, religion and politics were intertwined, and the world was lit only by fire. Catch it whenever it is shown.īefore Ben Kingsley as Gandhi or Denzel Washington as Malcolm X, Glenda Jackson walked in the shoes of Queen Elizabeth I in 1971. Still the series belongs to Jackson and it's run sometimes on the PBS affiliates. Two performances worthy of note are Ronald Hines as her faithful first minister Lord Burghley and Stephen Murray as Sir Francis Walsingham, the man who raised espionage to a fine art. ![]() ![]() That woman knew exactly where to keep boundaries. The last of a long line of people who mistook bedroom technique for mastery of the female monarch. This was true right up to the end of her reign and the last great crisis of her reign, the popularity of the headstrong and foolish Earl of Essex played by Robin Ellis. She certainly could have married him back in the day, but was wise enough to see the political pitfalls if she did. Robert Hardy plays him here and we see him and Elizabeth both grow older and wiser together. Although as she got older and as Queen Elizabeth certainly had her run of the noble stud farm for her private pleasures, her first and only real love was for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Here Vivian Pickles is shown as one rather empty headed woman who is an easy mark for the machinations of Sir Francis Walsingham when he tricks her into signing on to a conspiracy to kill Elizabeth and take the throne for herself. In Mary Queen of Scots or Mary of Scotland, the figure of Elizabeth is the shrewd villainess who lies and deceives Mary. As in Mary Queen of Scots the contrast is always made between Elizabeth and Mary Stuart who put her own passions and happiness above the good of Scotland. Glenda plays Elizabeth with vigor and authority, a woman who never thought she'd wind up Queen, but was ready to sacrifice everything for her realm and the welfare of its people. Every inch the regal monarch, England's greatest and last ruler because after her, the Scotch and English monarchies were united and James I became the first King of Great Britain. Forget Bette Davis, Flora Robson, Florence Eldridge or Cate Blanchett, when you look at Glenda Jackson you are looking at THE Queen Elizabeth. Glenda Jackson after having appeared on the big screen as Queen Elizabeth I of England in Mary Queen of Scots was permanently etched in everyone's mind as Elizabeth Tudor after this fabulous BBC mini-series.
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