Nearly 50 years after this was televised, Glenda Jackson is about to storm Broadway as King Lear.
As Elizabeth I, Jackson gives one of the great performances of television. All of her intelligence and fierceness is channeled into making this Queen a person of flesh and blood, and not just a costume parade. Jackson is totally believable as the wary young princess and equally so as the weary old monarch. Her voice thunders through the ages as if it were the real voice of that ancient Queen.
Among the cast are several familiar faces. Robert Hardy as Dudley, Robin Ellis as Essex, Vivian Pickles as Mary Stuart, Angela Thorne as Lettice, Peter Jeffrey as Philip II, Michael Williams as Alencon, Rachel Kempson as Kat, Daphne Slater as Mary I, Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr, John Nettleton as Francis Bacon, Ronald Hines as Burghley, Stephen Murray as Walsingham, John Woodvine as Francis Drake, James Laurenson as Simier, Jill Balcon as Lady Cobham, and Margaretta Scott as Catherine de Medici, and all are wonderful.
While the production values are rather modest, the series is very accurate in its historical facts and paints a properly dour picture of the religious wars that plagued Elizabeth as well as the constant and endless worries about the Succession to the Throne.
Elizabeth was one of the most remarkable women in history and is here played by one of the great actresses of our time: Glenda Jackson.
As Elizabeth I, Jackson gives one of the great performances of television. All of her intelligence and fierceness is channeled into making this Queen a person of flesh and blood, and not just a costume parade. Jackson is totally believable as the wary young princess and equally so as the weary old monarch. Her voice thunders through the ages as if it were the real voice of that ancient Queen.
Among the cast are several familiar faces. Robert Hardy as Dudley, Robin Ellis as Essex, Vivian Pickles as Mary Stuart, Angela Thorne as Lettice, Peter Jeffrey as Philip II, Michael Williams as Alencon, Rachel Kempson as Kat, Daphne Slater as Mary I, Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr, John Nettleton as Francis Bacon, Ronald Hines as Burghley, Stephen Murray as Walsingham, John Woodvine as Francis Drake, James Laurenson as Simier, Jill Balcon as Lady Cobham, and Margaretta Scott as Catherine de Medici, and all are wonderful.
While the production values are rather modest, the series is very accurate in its historical facts and paints a properly dour picture of the religious wars that plagued Elizabeth as well as the constant and endless worries about the Succession to the Throne.
Elizabeth was one of the most remarkable women in history and is here played by one of the great actresses of our time: Glenda Jackson.