The Six Wives of Henry VIII (TV series)
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- Not to be confused with The Six Wives of Henry VIII (documentary), a more recent Channel 4 documentary series on the subject by David Starkey.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII was a series of six teleplays produced by the BBC and first transmitted between 1 January and 5 February 1970. One of the first major British television series to be videotaped in colour, it was a huge success, propelling its previously little-known star, Keith Michell, into the limelight.
Each of the series of plays was devoted to one of the wives of King Henry VIII of England, and all were of equal length, regardless of the enormous variation in the length of their respective marriages. Each episode was written by a different dramatist. The series was produced by Mark Shivas.
The wives were as follows:
- Catherine of Aragon played by Annette Crosbie
- Anne Boleyn played by Dorothy Tutin
- Jane Seymour played by Anne Stallybrass
- Anne of Cleves played by Elvi Hale
- Catherine Howard played by Angela Pleasence
- Catherine Parr played by Rosalie Crutchley
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[edit] Episode guide
[edit] Catherine of Aragon
The episode starts with Catherine being married to Arthur who dies. Then, Catherine faces trouble as she is poor and arrangements to marry Prince Henry are not clear. When Henry VII dies, Henry VIII chooses Catherine, as his wife, as the deathwish of his father and they marry. After a short scene of Catherine's son's death and her weeping in Henry's arms, the programme goes to her older days where Henry falls in love with Anne Boleyn. She is heartbroken when Henry tells her he wants to divorce her. There are several court scenes discussing the annulment until Catherine is told that Henry married Anne. She is moved to Wolsey's house until she dies while Maria de Salinas is by her side. And the episode ends with her lying in her bed, Maria de Salinas sitting beside her and her (Catherine's) face fading away. Then you see Henry reading a letter written by her to him she is the voiceover reading it, then it shows Henry crushing it and standing dominatingly as a Holbien portrait.
[edit] Anne Boleyn
The episode focuses primarily on Anne's downfall, documenting the disintegration of her marriage in the face of frequent miscarriages and the king's infidelities. The storyline was heavily influenced by academic theories which believed Anne was the victim of a factional and political plot, concocted by her many enemies, who capitalised on the king's disillusionment with her. As with most media treatments of Anne's destruction, the episode followed the historical research which has all but proved her innocence; the scriptwriter used Anne's final confession to suggest her total innocence on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft. A notable exception to this general rule was the later BBC adaptation of the The Other Boleyn Girl.
[edit] Jane Seymour
This episode starts with Jane giving birth to Prince Edward. When she is taken to her child's christening, she is in pain and is near death; while lying in her sickbed, the events of her life flash before her in a fever dream. She remembers how Henry fell in love with her and her relatives schemed to bring about the downfall of Anne Boleyn and the subsequent rise of Jane. Directly after Anne is executed, Henry and Jane are married. During her short time as queen, Jane tries with some success to reconcile the princess Mary with Henry. Her pregnancy is a guilt-filled one. She is tormented by the fact that her predecessor was innocent; the victim of false witness. After Jane gives birth to the prince, she falls ill; this brings the episode full circle. Jane dies, and the last images we see here are her body lying in state, arrayed like a queen and Henry being consoled by his daughter Mary.
[edit] Anne of Cleves
Henry is confronted by Thomas Cromwell, who tells him that an alliance with Germany is imperative so he should marry one of the Duke of Cleves' sisters, Anne or Amelia. He sends artist Hans Holbein, who paints both girls, and chooses Anne because of her flattering portrait. Anne is sent to marry Henry. When she reaches England, Henry wishes to surprise her, so he goes to see her for the first time in disguise, but when he arrives, Anne is not properly dressed and is shocked when she finds out who he really is. Henry, meanwhile, is disappointed that she is not as beautiful as her portrait. They are married, but the marriage is never consummated. Politics then take center stage as Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, plans Cromwell's downfall by playing on Henry's infatuation with his young niece Catherine. Soon, Cromwell knows he is doomed and Anne realizes her marriage will soon be ended. She tells Henry that he must listen to her conditions: to be given a household of her own and to be able to see Henry's children, whom she loves. She also suggests that she should be called his sister, and points out that since their marriage was never consummated, it could be ended quickly by an annulment instead of a divorce. Henry is delighted by this idea, saying "Good night, my dear sister," and the episode ends showing Anne's saddened face.
[edit] Catherine Howard
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[edit] Catherine Parr
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[edit] Reception
The series was so successful that it was adapted into a 1973 film of the same title, and spawned a successful sequel, Elizabeth R, starring Glenda Jackson.
