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. Forget Bette Davis, Flora Robson, Florence Eldridge or Cate Blanchett, when you look at Glenda Jackson you are looking at THE Queen Elizabeth.
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. 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.
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. In Mary Queen of Scots or Mary of Scotland, the figure of Elizabeth is the shrewd villainess who lies and deceives Mary. 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. A conspiracy of his own making. Pickles is also memorable in her role.
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. Robert Hardy plays him here and we see him and Elizabeth both grow older and wiser together. She certainly could have married him back in the day, but was wise enough to see the political pitfalls if she did. Eventually Leicester realized them too.
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. The last of a long line of people who mistook bedroom technique for mastery of the female monarch. That woman knew exactly where to keep boundaries.
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.
Still the series belongs to Jackson and it's run sometimes on the PBS affiliates. Catch it whenever it is shown.
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. 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.
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. In Mary Queen of Scots or Mary of Scotland, the figure of Elizabeth is the shrewd villainess who lies and deceives Mary. 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. A conspiracy of his own making. Pickles is also memorable in her role.
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. Robert Hardy plays him here and we see him and Elizabeth both grow older and wiser together. She certainly could have married him back in the day, but was wise enough to see the political pitfalls if she did. Eventually Leicester realized them too.
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. The last of a long line of people who mistook bedroom technique for mastery of the female monarch. That woman knew exactly where to keep boundaries.
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.
Still the series belongs to Jackson and it's run sometimes on the PBS affiliates. Catch it whenever it is shown.