The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family

There was a brief mention in Episode 3 alluding to Anne's role in the Reformation. In fact, it wouldn't have happened as it did were it not for her efforts. I can imagine someone thought of the "scandalous" title and decided to write the series around it. The Boleyns were no more or less ambitious than a cartload of others such as the Seymours, but Anne is presented as a schemer and a seducer, if not in fact an adulteress. The script managed to suggest that the reason for her downfall was going too far in flirtation. For those interested in the actual history, the biography by Eric Ives, "The Life and Death of Anne Bolyn" is definitive. Others have commented on problems with the costumes, hairstyles, acting, commentaries, etc., but for me the great failure is the lack of understanding why Thomas More set out to destroy her and why Henry, the absolute monster, had her head cut off. On the positive side, the actress portraying Anne did a nice job of suggestng her charm.

Excellent series about a family at the very heart of the English Reformation.

It is not about the drama, it is about the commentary.

Experts include Oxford's finest, the excellent Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history.

After Channel five's abomination of The Anne Boleyn story, I was expecting great things from this BBC drama documentary.

All in all, it's pretty good, it's very practical, very informative, it provides you with lots of facts, and historically accurate information about the whole of the family, in particular the rise and fall of Anne.

I loved the accuracy of the info, I was less than impressed by the drama elements, at times it looked a little bit cheap, The BBC are renowned for their costume dramas, but this unfortunately doesn't cut the mustard.

Watchable, informative, just wanted a bit more from it, 6/10.

There's plenty of inaccurate history in this miniseries. Anne Boleyn's time in France was touched upon but the fact that her older sister Mary was also part of the French court is not touched upon at all. Mary Boleyn had a reputation as a person of uncertain virtue. Not only did she become Henry VIII's mistress, but she was also rumored to have slept with the French king so the portrayal of her as an unwilling mistress is entirely false. Even the portrayal of Anne as "beautiful" was false. She was considered to be fairly plain: she had a sallow complexion and dark hair and a bosom "not much raised" at a time when women of fair coloring were considered to represent the ideal of beauty.

Many pivotal figures are not represented here. What happened to Thomas Moore and Jane Rochfort for example?

I hoped for more historical accuracy.

The actors were a bit odd with the wigs. But I found it very strange we never really see Henry VIII and that there is no mention of Thomas More who was also beheaded. Gave all the credit re reformation to Anne. Interesting. Watched this on a flight.