This series of six 90 minute episodes helped put Masterpiece Theatre on the map back in the early 1970's and starred a very young Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth. The acting is outstanding, and the series has the vast majority of the historical details down correctly. However, you are going to have to accustom yourself to the rather crude looking lighting and camera work that was typical of PBS production values of the early 1970's. In fact, unless there is some copyright problem at work I am unaware of, that is likely why I have not seen it on TV in 15 years. The series takes Elizabeth from shortly after the death of her father, King Henry VIII, in 1547, up to her own deathbed in 1603. The following is a brief description of each of the six episodes:
1. The Lion's Cub - The series begins in 1547 with the brief six-year reign of Elizabeth's sickly younger brother, Edward VI. Manipulated by his Seymour uncles, he prefers to debate religion with Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. His untimely death is followed by the nine day reign of the usurper, Lady Jane Grey. The people refuse to allow the true succession to be supplanted and rise up in the name of Edward's oldest sister, Mary, who ascends the throne. The majority of the episode deals with Mary's attempts to convert Elizabeth to the Catholic faith. Various plots and rebellions flare, and Elizabeth spends some time under arrest in the Tower of London. She is released when Mary weds the Spanish king, Phillip II. The marriage is not a success, and the pitiful Mary dies childless, leaving only one heir to the throne, her sister Elizabeth.
2. The Marriage Game - In 1558, the marriage of the new queen is the most pressing political issue of the new reign, as it is imperative that Elizabeth produce an heir. Foreign princes negotiate for her hand, but Elizabeth refuses to commit to any one of them. Meanwhile, her friendship with Sir Robert Dudley deepens, causing unease among her councillors. Dudley's wife dies by a mysterious fall down a flight of stairs, and all of Europe believes the English queen engineered the tragedy. An attack of smallpox brings the queen near death, and her council laments that there is no viable heir to the throne. Elizabeth recovers, but her problem remains: if she remains childless, who will succeed her?
3. Shadow in the Sun - The episode opens as Elizabeth and her court react to the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, in which hundreds of French Huguenots (Protestants) died at the hands of the French king's troops. Ever the pragmatist, Elizabeth is willing to set aside her horror and open marriage negotiations with the French king's younger brother, the Duke of Alencon. A tender romance develops between the aging queen and the younger, impish Duke. Behind the scenes, Elizabeth's councillors Cecil, Sussex, and Walsingham bargain with the Duke's mother, the formidable Catherine de Medici. The queen undergoes an awkward physical examination to prove she can still bear children, while her favorite Dudley, now the Earl of Leicester, attempts to sabotage the marital plans. As the queen vacillates, Alencon drops a bombshell: Leicester has secretly married Elizabeth's cousin, the Countess of Essex. In the end, the queen cannot bring herself to marry. She bids farewell to her last chance at personal happiness, and her last chance of bearing children, and reveals her melancholy by composing a poem, "A Shadow in the Sun."
4. Horrible Conspiracies - In the mid 1580's attention turns to Elizabeth's closest relative and greatest enemy, Mary, Queen of Scots. Imprisoned by Elizabeth for many years, Mary is a focal point for Catholic unrest in England. Walsingham is concerned for Elizabeth's security but knows that the queen will never consent to Mary's execution without incontrovertible proof of her treachery. He engineers a meeting between the Scottish queen and Sir Anthony Babington, a leading Catholic aristocrat. A plot develops to overthrow Elizabeth and seize the throne, a plot followed step by step by Walsingham. Its revelation leads to Queen Mary's trial and conviction, but Elizabeth cannot bring herself to order the execution of an anointed queen. Ultimately, she signs the death warrant, only to disavow it later. But her recantation is too late; the Queen of Scots is executed.
5. The Enterprise of England - The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at the order of Queen Elizabeth, shocks Europe, and encourages King Phillip of Spain to prepare to invade England in 1588. At Elizabeth's direction, Sir Francis Drake wages small piracies upon Spanish ships, which does nothing to deter Phillip's assembly of the mighty Spanish Armada. At the English court, debate rages over attempts to negotiate peace, while at the Spanish court, the king is urged to delay. Phillip, moved by God, launches his fleet, and Elizabeth, against the advice of her new favorite Essex, joins her troops to await the invasion. Though vastly outnumbered, the English fleet, with smaller, swifter ships, out-maneuvers the larger Spanish galleons. A terrible storm finishes the job: the Armada is defeated. Back in London, Elizabeth is in the mood to celebrate, until sad news reaches the court: the queen's one true love, the Earl of Leicester, has died.
6. Sweet England's Pride - At the end of her life, Elizabeth is a parody of her former glory. The ancient queen tolerates the insufferable egotism of her young favorite, the Earl of Essex, to the chagrin of Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Robert Cecil. Egged on by sycophantic friends and his mother Lady Leicester, Essex believes he can supplant Elizabeth and rule in her place. His hubris leads to his downfall, and he is arrested and executed. Elizabeth has outlived all her contemporaries, and with the son of her enemy Mary, Queen of Scots poised to inherit her throne, she takes her last breath.
If you don't know much about Queen Elizabeth before watching this series, spend a little time reading brief sketches on her father Henry VIII and her mother Ann Boleyn. Also, be sure to read about Elizabeth's younger brother Edward and older sister Mary, both of whom who preceeded her as England's King and Queen, respectively. Their biographies figure heavily into Elizabeth's reasonings and the choices she made, but there is not much detail given about their lives in this series. Much has been made recently about the 4 hour drama "Elizabeth I" starring Helen Mirren made just last year. That is definitely a good program on the subject, but this one is much better, since it shows the entirety of Elizabeth's adult life. Also, although Helen Mirren did a wonderful job, she doesn't seem to age a day over the length of the series even though over 20 years pass. Glenda Jackson's Elizabeth has you believing you are watching the queen mature from a giggling teenager to the 69 year old monarch she was at her death. Highly recommended.
