Movies/TV: British History
Period films dealing mostly with figures from England's aristocracy, royal families, and government.
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- DirectorPeter GlenvilleStarsRichard BurtonPeter O'TooleJohn GielgudKing Henry II of England comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant Thomas Becket, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the King's.
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsPeter O'TooleKatharine HepburnAnthony Hopkins1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.
- DirectorCharles JarrottStarsRichard BurtonGeneviève BujoldIrene PapasKing Henry VIII of England discards one wife, Catharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
- DirectorCharles JarrottStarsVanessa RedgraveGlenda JacksonPatrick McGoohanDuring the sixteenth century, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots engages in over two decades of religious and political conflict with her cousin, the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England, amidst political intrigue in her native land.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsRichard HarrisAlec GuinnessRobert MorleyPuritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.
- DirectorClive DonnerStarsDavid HemmingsMichael YorkPrunella RansomeWhile Old England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the ninth century, Alfred is planning to join the priesthood. But observing the rape of his land, he puts away his religious vows, to take up arms against the invaders, leading the English Christians to fight for their country. Alfred soundly defeats the Danes and becomes a hero. Although Alfred still longs for the priesthood, he is torn between his passion for God and his lust for blood.
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsHelena Bonham CarterCary ElwesJohn WoodThe story of Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for only nine days.
- DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsNigel HawthorneHelen MirrenRupert GravesWhen King George III goes mad, his Lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsHelen MirrenMichael SheenJames CromwellAfter the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSimon WardRobert ShawPeter CellierComplex family relationships, as well as a combat experience, form the personality of the future world-known politician.
- StarsAnnette CrosbieTimothy WestHelen RyanThe life of Edward VII (1841 - 1910), the King of the United Kingdom. Before becoming the King, he developed a reputation of a playboy, which angered his mother, Queen Victoria. He was a reformer and modernizer, but also an elitist.
- StarsJane LapotaireJohn DuttineChristopher GableHenry Plantagenet (later King Henry II), sees his opportunity to seize the crown of England and create a kingdom of law and order.
- StarsGlenda JacksonRonald HinesRobert HardyWhen Elizabeth Tudor comes to the throne, her (male) advisers know she has to marry. Doesn't she? Thus starts a decades-long political/matrimonial game, during an age of high passions and high achievement.
- StarsKeith MichellAnthony QuaylePatrick TroughtonA six-episode dramatization of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.
- DirectorPhyllida LloydStarsMeryl StreepJim BroadbentRichard E. GrantAn elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.
- CreatorLaurie McCarthyStephanie SenguptaStarsAdelaide KaneMegan FollowsCelina SindenMary, Queen of Scots, faces political and sexual intrigue in the treacherous world of the French court.
- CreatorDaisy GoodwinStarsJenna ColemanAdrian SchillerTommy KnightThe early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.
- CreatorPeter MorganStarsClaire FoyOlivia ColmanImelda StauntonFollows the political rivalries and romances of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped Britain for the second half of the 20th century.
- CreatorMichael HirstStarsJonathan Rhys MeyersHenry CavillAnthony BrophyEpic series reveals the scandalous life of a young king whose affairs and obsession with producing a male heir changed marriage, the church, and the world.
- StarsAneurin BarnardRebecca FergusonAmanda HaleThree different, yet equally relentless women vie for the throne in 15th-century England.
- StarsJodie ComerRebecca BensonJacob Collins-LevyBased on the Philippa Gregory book of the same name, the story of Elizabeth of York, the White Queen's daughter, and her marriage to the Lancaster victor, Henry VII.
- StarsMark RylanceDamian LewisClaire FoyAfter the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, his secretary, Thomas Cromwell, finds himself amongst the treachery and intrigue of King Henry VIII's court and soon becomes a close advisor to the King, a role fraught with danger.
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsCate BlanchettLiz GilesRod CulbertsonThe early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsCate BlanchettClive OwenGeoffrey RushA mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.
- DirectorJean-Marc ValléeStarsEmily BluntRupert FriendPaul BettanyA dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
- DirectorGeorge SidneyStarsJean SimmonsStewart GrangerDeborah KerrThe early life of Elizabeth I, from her childhood until her accession to the throne of England in 1558.
- DirectorMike BarkerStarsTim RothDougray ScottOlivia WilliamsA recounting of the relationship between General Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, as they try to cope with the consequences of deposing King Charles I.
- DirectorJulian JarroldStarsSarah GadonBel PowleyEmily WatsonOn V.E. Day in 1945, as peace extends across Europe, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret are allowed out to join the celebrations. It is a night full of excitement, danger and the first flutters of romance.
- DirectorStephen PoliakoffStarsDaniel WilliamsMatthew James ThomasBrock Everitt-ElwickBased on the story of a British royal Prince locked away because of epilepsy.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsTyrone PowerMadeleine CarrollFreddie BartholomewAn honest broker saves the day.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsGeorge ArlissDoris LloydDavid TorrencePrime Minister of Great Britain Benjamin Disraeli outwits the subterfuge of the Russians and chicanery at home in order to secure the purchase of the Suez Canal.
- DirectorCharles JarrottStarsAnthony AndrewsJane SeymourOlivia de HavillandThe love story between American divorcee Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, that ended in his abdication for the woman he loved.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsRichard ChamberlainFaye DunawayPatrick MacneeThe love of King Edward VIII for American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson eventually leads to his abdication.
- StarsEdward FoxCynthia HarrisDavid WallerThe events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.
- DirectorWaris HusseinStarsKeith MichellDonald PleasenceCharlotte RamplingOn his deathbed, King Henry VIII looks back over his eventful life and his six marriages.
- DirectorGiles FosterStarsJames WilbyAlan BatesEileen AtkinsA chronicle of the life of George VI, who was forced to become King following the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, and his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsJudi DenchBilly ConnollyGeoffrey PalmerWhen Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown, but their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchAli FazalTim Pigott-SmithQueen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsGary OldmanLily JamesKristin Scott ThomasIn May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
- DirectorDavid MooreStarsJoely RichardsonDavid WestheadLisa KayIn 1936, Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. These events caused a scandal around the world. Wallis and Edward is an attempt to portray the romantic aspects of the story from Wallis's point of view. The drama follows the beginning of their affair whilst Edward was Prince of Wales and Wallis was still married to Ernest Simpson.
- DirectorMadonnaStarsAbbie CornishJames D'ArcyAndrea RiseboroughThe affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsNova PilbeamCedric HardwickeJohn MillsA dramatization of Lady Jane Grey's short life, from her forced marriage (which she resisted), to her brief reign as monarch of England, and finally to her beheading. This movie portrays her as an innocent set up for the slaughter, while the scheming courtiers and pretenders to the throne barely pay her mind, as they stab each other in the back in their attempts to gain power and influence.
- StarsPeter EganNigel DavenportBosco HoganThe life and times of George (1762-1830), Prince of Wales, from his early days of debauchery to his ascent to the throne as George IV. His two marriages (one legal, one not), his mistresses, the famous men of his day: all the over-indulgence and frustration of waiting for his father George III to die or remain mad.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsBette DavisRichard ToddJoan CollinsSir Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd) overcomes court intrigue to win favor with Queen Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) in order to get financing for a proposed voyage to the New World.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsBette DavisErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandA depiction of the love/hate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
- StarsRobert HardySiân PhillipsNigel HaversThe story of Winston Churchill's life between 1929, when he lost his cabinet position, and 1939, when he joined Great Britain's War Cabinet - a period he described as the most difficult in his life.
- StarsJohn NevilleSusan HampshireJohn StandingThe lives of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, and his wife Sarah.
- StarsIan McShaneRosemary LeachMary PeachA penetrating look at one of British history's most enigmatic and controversial figure, Benjamin Disraeli--a dandy, womanizer and a Jew.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsCharles LaughtonRobert DonatFranklin DyallKing Henry VIII marries five more times after his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
- DirectorPeter LevinStarsCatherine OxenbergChristopher BainesOlivia de HavillandThe story of the courtship of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, told at a time when their union still seemed to be a match made in heaven.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsStewart GrangerElizabeth TaylorPeter UstinovIn 1796, Captain George Bryan "Beau" Brummell of the 10th Royal Hussars Regiment offends the Prince of Wales with his straightforward outspokenness and gets fired from the Army but is chosen as the Prince's personal advisor.
- StarsNeville BarberBernard ArchardJeremy BrettThe private lives of seven British prime ministers who resided at 10 Downing Street between the 1780s-1920s, including Pitt the Younger, Wellesley, Disraeli, Gladstone, Lloyd George, Asquith and MacDonald.
- DirectorJames Cellan JonesStarsGlenda JacksonPeter FinchMichael JaystonYoung George Matcham visits his uncle Lord Nelson and the vulgar Lady Hamilton. With the clear eyes of youth, he measures Nelson's stature and notes his feet of clay. And yet, Nelson is a hero, a great man. How can this be resolved? Meanwhile, the combined French and Spanish fleet puts out to sea.
- StarsLee RemickBarbara ParkinsRonald PickupJennie Jerome was born in the United States in 1845, eventually becoming Lady Randolph Churchill and the mother of Winston Churchill.
- StarsLisa HarrowLise HilboldtJames FoxVirginia-born Lady Astor is the first woman to sit in the Westminster Parliament. Her outspokenness in unpopular causes leaves her open to heartbreak, both public and private.
- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsAlbert FinneyVanessa RedgraveJim BroadbentWinston Churchill's wilderness years prior to World War II, when only he could see the threat that Adolf Hitler and a rearmed Germany posed to Europe.
- DirectorHerbert WiseStarsRichard BurtonVirginia McKennaAngharad ReesThe story of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, focusing on his place in British life just prior to World War II.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsRory KinnearMaxine PeakeNeil BellThe story of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in which British forces attacked a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsRobert DonatGeoffrey AtkinsJean CadellThis biopic tells the story of the life of Pitt The Younger, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of twenty-four.