Publisher: Umbrella Entertainment Run time: 536mins Year: 1970 Release date: 03/12/2008 RRP: $ 34.99
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This epic 1970 BBC drama established the BBC's reputation for accurate and engrossing historical drama and remains a television classic. A six part series - each episode focussing on one of Henry's six wives - it starred great British actresses and made a star of Keith Michell who put in a brilliant, award-winning performance as the Tudor king.
The wives (each journeying to differing fates) have their own compelling stories: the kind and loving Catherine of Aragon, originally married to Henry's brother; Anne Boleyn, the dark-haired, tempestuous girl who leads Henry to reject Catholicism and create the Anglican Church; Jane Seymour, the shy and devout wife who looks to give Henry the son he desperately craves; the plain Anne of Cleves, married in a Protestant alliance; the young, beautiful but immature Catherine Howard and the steadfast Catherine Parr who brought Henry's family together and cared for the dying king.
Through the stories of each of the wives, we also follow the life of the terrible and grandiose monarch. As he grows older (from an athletic young l8-year-old to a bloated 56-year-old ) an all-pervading search for elusive happiness and an appetite for power dominate his life. Using those close to him (Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cramner and others) he challenges the authority of the Pope, discards or executes his wives and closest advisors, and as his health declines, become intolerably megalomaniacal.
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