I had already seen the film, Henry VIII and His Six Wives, which was a full-length adaptation of this six-part television series, I watched it when it was repeated on BBC Four over fifty years after its original broadcast, I read about all the success it achieved and I was looking forward to all of it. Basically, when King Henry VII (John Woodnutt) dies, King Henry VIII (Emmy and BAFTA winning Keith Michell) succeeds him and chooses Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon (One Foot in the Grave's BAFTA winning Annette Crosbie) as his wife. Catherine and Henry spend twenty-four years married. They suffer the death of two children from stillbirth, but their daughter Princess Mary (the future Mary I) survives. Years later, Henry meets and falls in love with Lady Anne Boleyn (BAFTA nominated Dorothy Tutin). Henry VIII has the marriage annulled, making her daughter Mary illegitimate and removed as Henry's heir, and Anne has a daughter with Henry, the future Elizabeth I. Henry reads a loving final letter from Catherine following her death (from heart cancer), but he throws it away. Anne Bolelyn and Henry are married for two years, but this slowly fails as she suffers two miscarriages and cannot provide him a son, and Henry has many infidelities. Anne makes many enemies, including chief minister Thomas Cromwell (Wolfe Morris), and it all ends for her after she is convicted of treason (which was apparently false) and is beheaded. Henry meets Jane Seymour (Anne Stallybrass), and they are married days after Anne's execution. During her short time as queen, Jane helps Henry to reconcile with Princess Mary (Alison Frazer). Jane suffers a long and difficult labour, giving birth to a son, Prince Edward (the future Edward VI); she becomes ill with childbed fever and dies from postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth. With three dead wives and only one legitimate son, Henry's councillors urge him to marry again, and he chooses German born Anne of Cleves (Elvi Hale). But she is horrified by obese and bawdy appearance. In the weeks that follow, Henry and Anne live separate lives at court, although she is close to his children. Later, encouraging Henry to believe it is his own idea, Anne tells Henry that she understands his demands for an annulment, and when the divorce is settled, she is bittersweet but relieved. Catherine Howard (Angela Pleasence, Donald's daughter) is a pretty and foolhardy teenager, and claims she is a virgin, she later meets King Henry VIII who is in ill-health with a perpetual ulcer on his leg from a jousting accident. She flirts with and charms the king, who is immediately taken with her. They are married, but on their wedding night Henry's impotence is revealed. Months pass with no sign of a pregnancy, and rumours begin spreading throughout the court regarding Catherine's affair with Thomas Culpeper (Ralph Bates), her distant cousin. The Duke of Norfolk (Doctor Who's Patrick Troughton), Catherine's uncle, betrays his niece to the king and exposes the affair, she demands to see Henry but is refused, she is beheaded on the grounds of treason. Later, Catherine Parr (Rosalie Crutchley), who is recently widowed is summoned before the king, who is in his fifties, but is older, morbidly obese, sick, and lonely. He is enticed by her, but she refuses his proposal, but after encouragement from Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (Bernard Hepton) they are married. Catholic Bishop Gardiner (Basil Dignam) dislikes Catherine's religious views and plots her downfall. Henry is later angered by her liberal opinions and angrily rejects her. She is later arrested and terrified being threatened by the death sentence, but Henry eventually forgives her. Sometime later, Henry collapses and is near death, after being in bed for several days he succumbs to death from natural causes. Thomas Seymour (John Ronane) proposes to Catherine, she initially berates him for wanting to take the place of the king, but she accepts. Also starring Sheila Burrell as Lady Rochford, Daniel Moynihan as Edward Seymour (Lord Hertford), Patrick Godfrey as Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Jo Kendall as Anne Stanhope, EastEnders' Christopher Hancock as Sir Henry Norreys, Are You Being Served? Star Mollie Sugden as Lotte, Peter Cellier as Sir Christopher Hales, Jody Schaller as Princess Elizabeth, and Verina Greenlaw as Princess Mary. Michell is superb as the controversial, most feared King Henry VIII with a softer side, Crosbie, Tutin, Stallybrass, Hale, Pleasence and Crutchley all bring their own splendour to the six wives, and there is good support from Morris and Troughton as members of the court. Obviously, each episode focuses on the six wives, and events that happened while the king was courting them, I'm not going to pretend I understood absolutely every political issue that was being discussed, I simply enjoyed it for its great scripting, the splendid costumes, and the terrific performances of Michell and the rest of the cast, it is a most worthwhile historical drama. It was nominated the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Series - Drama, Outstanding Single Program - Drama or Comedy, Outstanding New Series, Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series for Keith Michell, and it won the BAFTA for Best Design, General (for the costume design), and Special Award, and it was nominated for Best Drama Production, Best Drama Production, and Best Script. Very good!
Review of The Six Wives of Henry VIII
