The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Curious how a Documentary Drama has been compared to a Movie with the latter pronounced the "better". Just to remind the forgetful - movies are MADE UP and facts are twisted to enhance the drama of the piece. Is all history to be learned from movies? Why not appreciate both and recognize the difference?

This epic period in English history started the religious split of England from Rome - just so a monarch could get a divorce - and thereby changing the balance of control in the whole of Europe. Henry VIII changed the world by creating a separate religion of which he became the titular head. The current Royal Family has inherited this responsibility and even though the Church of England is sometimes confused with Protestantism it is very different from that German religion.

Recognize these facts and you can begin to appreciate the subtleties of the politicking and scheming of the Tudor period that everyday people as well as royalty had to employ just to stay off the rack. Catholics and non-Catholics had to play a delicate and dangerous game of allegiances.

Dr. David Starkey does a wonderful job making this series come to life. I found some of the dramatizations a little histrionic but Dr. Starkey keeps bringing us back to a plane of reality that allows us to understand the harshness, complexities and uncertainties of Tudor life. Henry VIII was not the last absolute monarch but he was the one we remember.

Imagine your own life condensed into edited highlights - how many seconds of film time did it take? Try it.

I don't think it is perfect, but it is very good. David Starkey is very informative, in providing the insight into the life of Henry VIII. Some of the stuff, I admit I already knew from school, but there was added information that I never knew before, so I found it interesting. I thought there were some lovely locations and costumes, however, I wasn't entirely impressed with some of the actors. The actress of Anne Boleyn wasn't sincere enough, and it seemed as though they had two actors for Thomas Cromwell. I liked the actress of Katherine of Aragon, and although I have seen superior portrayals, the actor of Henry VIII himself did more than adequately. One definite thing I liked was the music, very haunting and beautiful over some scenes, particularly in the scene with Jane Seymour's body being carried on the boat. Overall, I liked the series a lot, so I will give it a 8/10 Bethany Cox.

I'd had only a surface knowledge of Henry VIII and his ill-fated mates, and found this 4-part presentation more watchable than I'd expected. It's a documentary with re-enactments, rather than a film, so they didn't fiddle around with the details for the sake of a screenplay--you get a pretty clear picture of the women and their relationships with the moody and increasingly insecure King. You can learn a lot from this. Henry's wives become real people, rather than vague names from history. Biggest surprise: I'd always felt bad for the vivacious Anne Boleyn, especially. But after learning more about her......eehhh---not so much. Tune in and see why. Highly recommended.

Not even five minutes into this film, I stopped watching. Historically inaccurate portrayals do not inspire desire in me to watch more. Catherine of Aragon had reddis/blonde hair hair from an English ancestress, she may have been a Spanish princess but no black hair. Also long hair was part of being a virgin bride/princess. She would NOT have a shoulder lenth bob. If If the producers, director, etc, can't get this right, what other things are wrong? For shame BBC, I expected better.

I learned a big chunk of my English history from the 1971 series of this same name(http://imdb.com/title/tt0066714/combined), and it still ranks as an awesome event, if only in memory now. This one, for all its merits, falls flat in comparison.

A few weeks ago I tuned into this newer series and was shocked at how dull and insipid it seemed compared to the great drama of the original. Decades on I can still remember the thunder of individual lines from the 1971 series ("Anne, Queen of England, come into the court!"), the cruel sight of Henry showing Jane the money-grubbing trickery used by the monks whom she loved, the poignant desperation of Anne of Cleves and the strength of Catherine Parr. There is little memorable in the 2001 version.

The great moments of conflict are not acted out passionately in this history. They are merely narrated, or original documents are read. How stale and unprofitable by comparison to the first great "The Six Wives of Henry VIII"! Although it may be unfair to compare a documentary series with a drama, the producers and the BBC invited the comparison with their choice of title. If the goal is to teach history and teach it so that it is remembered, this version fails the test against the standard set in 1971. PBS, give us back the original!