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Rating:  - Don't waste your money
I bought this based on other people's reviews on Amazon. It was the biggest waste of money. The acting is dull, the sets are cheap, the story line is historically off. Anyone want to buy my copy??
Rating:  - Ferocious fun in the House of Tudor
I love this series. Keith Michell's portrayal of Henry Tudor from a young man to an aging monarch is astounding.
I first saw this production on TV as part of Masterpiece Theatre, and the images I saw were produced by 1970s technology. So I'm not going to complain about not seeing what I never saw anyway. (I actually own the DVD set, but our player died, so I haven't seen it yet. But the picture HAS to be better than the one on my parents' TV set.)
As for the production values, *I* thought they were good. I've heard the same quibble about my all-time Masterpiece Theatre favorite, the brilliantly written, brilliantly acted "I, Claudius". But I HAVE recently viewed *that* series, and didn't find the production "stagey"-looking at all, then or now, so I really don't know that the fuss is about. But then, I'm a boomer; I grew up without CGI and don't feel I'm the worse for it. I'm just grateful that the recording is available.
Like "I, Claudius", the segments (one to each wife) are cleverly written and well acted. To me, Michell is the definitive Henry. All of the episodes are marvellous, but the episode closest to my heart is that devoted to Henry and Anne of Cleves, Wife Number 4.
This is not "The Tudors," currently showing on cable TV(is it me, or anyone else here confused about which actor is supposed to be Henry? I've only seen a couple of early episodes). But then, "The Six Wives of Henry VII" set the benchmark, and set it high indeed.
This one's worth owning.
Rating: - So glad to see this reissued by BBC Warner!!
I've wanted this great series for a long time, but have held off, because it wasn't closed captioned until this was reissed by BBC Warner - they always offer closed captioning, even on older programs such as this. They are to be commended for this, as others, such as Acorn & A&E don't bother with captioning on these older programs.
Rating:  - An Indepth Look at the Most Famous King's Personal Life
This series ushered in the British television invasion to America. But what was interesting was that it was original broadcast on CBS not PBS!
This also was a departure in normal British programming by having each episode written by a different person.
Each episode examines one of the marriages of the most famous King of England. The format of most starts with the beginning of the relationship through the end of the marriage. For Catherine of Aragon, it goes past the divorce to her death in 1536. And for Anne Boleyn, it starts after the death of Catherine of Aragon. (Of course Catherine Parr outlives Henry.)
Keith Michell plays Henry (1491-1547) from a young boy to his death (King 1509-1547) He is very convincing and deserved his Emmy Award (for Actor in a Special not for the entire series.)
The six actresses that played the wives were uniformly excellent but interestingly most were too old for their roles (Dorothy Tutin was almost 40 when she played Anne Boleyn who died at 36.)
Annette Crosbie leads off as Catherine of Aragon (Q 1509-1533), the queen that split the nation and gave Britan Bloody Mary (ended in divorce)(Written by Rosemary Anne Sissons)
Dorothy Tutin is Anne Boleyn (Q 1533-1536), the most famous of the queens and mother of future ruler Elizabeth I (beheaded) (Written by Nick McCarty)
Anne Stallybrass is Jane Seymour (Q 1536-1537), the true love of Henry and mother of his only son Edward I (died as a result of childbirth) (Written by Ian Thorne)
Elvi Hale is Anne of Cleves (Q 1540), Henry's second political marriage and the wife who outsmarted him (ended in divorce II) (Written by Jean Morris)
Angela Pleasence is Catherine Howard (Q 1540-1542), Anne Boleyn's cousin and she actually committed adultrey, (beheaded) (Written by Beverly Cross)
Rosalie Crutchley is Catherine Parr (Q 1543-1547), Henry's last wife, although she nearly met the same fate as Boleyn and Howard. She survived her famous husband and secretly married Thomas Seymour (brother of Jane) but died a 17 months after the death of her famous husband. (Written by John Prebble)
Since in America we do not study alot of British history, this series gives a detailed look at the private life of one of the most infamous English rulers.
The only thing that was not clear was Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon for 20 years.
Also, the color on this is muted. As it has been over 35 years since I saw this on TV, I am not sure if this is a poor transfer or just the fact that this series was filmed on video instead of film.
This is a well made, exceptionally written series.
Rating: - larger than life!
very impressive, but leaves out a little between wives, which i didn't really like. nice job though for something of that magnitude during the time.
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