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Elizabeth I (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth I is a 2005 British television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper
. The teleplay
by Nigel Williams
concentrates on the last 25 years of the nearly 45-year-long reign of Elizabeth I of England
.
The series originally was broadcast in the UK in two two-hour segments on Channel 4
. It later aired on HBO in the United States
, CBC
and TMN
in Canada
, ATV
in Hong Kong
, ABC
in Australia
, and TVNZ Television One in New Zealand
.
The series went on to win Emmy
, Peabody
, and Golden Globe Award
s. The same year, Helen Mirren starred as the second Queen Elizabeth in The Queen
, with which she dominated the award season.
, as it survives her contemplated marriage to the considerably younger Duke of Anjou
, war with Spain
, and his exile from and eventual return to the court, finally ending with his death in 1588.
Part Two follows Elizabeth through her later years, during which she has a passionate affair with the stepson of the Earl of Leicester, the much younger Earl of Essex
, whose political ambitions frequently clash with his devotion and loyalty to the monarch. As Elizabeth finds her young lover's behavior becoming increasingly worrisome, she draws closer to Robert Cecil
, who is named Secretary of State
following the death of Sir Francis Walsingham
.
Chief among the problems facing the throne is the question of a successor, given Elizabeth has no heirs. Both the queen's first cousin, the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, and Mary's son, James VI of Scotland
, would like to usurp Elizabeth from her position, but she is determined neither one will take her place.
, Lithuania
, where the massive sets were constructed inside a sports arena. The church where Elizabeth and James VI meet is St. Anne's Church
, built in 1500.
This series' broadcast forced the BBC
to postpone the premiere of The Virgin Queen
, also about Elizabeth I, until January/February 2006. Ewen Bremner
appeared in both productions.
attempted to murder Elizabeth I (in the first part of Episode One, which compresses events from 1579-1581). He is then seen being torture
d and interrogated, but reappears in the second part of the episode (which compresses events from 1584-1588) to play his real historical part in the Babington Plot
. This part of the episode even includes a scene where Gifford meets the Queen and she acknowledges him as the perpetrator of the failed murder seven years before. The murder attempt never happened and, if it had, would inevitably have resulted in the perpetrator's execution.
It is suggested in dialogue that Leicester's son with his second wife, Lettice Knollys
, died aged 7. However, he died aged 3.
As in the 1800 play Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller
, Elizabeth visits Mary, Queen of Scots, in prison, although the cousins never met in real life.
Dialogue implies that the Duke of Anjou died seven years after his failed marriage attempt with Elizabeth, putting his death in the same year as the Babington Plot
. Actually the final rejection of the marriage proposal happened in 1581, the Duke died in 1584 and the Plot took place in 1586. This is one of several instances where artistic license for dramatic effect results in distortion of the actual timeline of events.
In 1588, while waiting on the beach to see if the Spanish Armada
is about to invade England, the Earl of Leicester uses a telescope
to identify the flag on a ship sailing up the river. The telescope wasn't invented by Hans Lippershey
until 1608.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded in a courtyard, but according to accounts written at the time she actually was executed inside Fotheringhay Castle
.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is stated to be Elizabeth's cousin, and is stated to be the daughter of Henry VIII's sister, Margaret, while, in reality, she was the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister, Margaret
, making her Elizabeth's first cousin once removed.
In Episode Two, the Queen transfers the monopoly on sweet wines to the Earl of Essex as a prize after the English Armada
expedition to Portugal
. The transfer actually happened a year earlier as an inheritance from Essex's stepfather the Earl of Leicester.
The marriage of Essex and Frances Walsingham
is shown as happening after the execution of Doctor Lopez
. The marriage actually happened in 1590, four years before Lopez's execution in 1594.
Other scenes relating to the accusations against Lopez and the appointment of a new Attorney General (both having happened in 1594) also involve Frances' father, Sir Francis Walsingham
, who actually died in 1590, four years before the execution and the Privy Council
controversy about the Attorney-generalship.
The screenplay depicts the Queen appointing Essex as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on the day of Lord Burghley
's burial in August 1598 while it actually happened only in early 1599 after bitter infighting between Essex and Burghley's son Sir Robert Cecil
.
Robert Cecil presents Elizabeth with a poem the Earl of Essex allegedly wrote just before his execution. The piece she reads aloud actually was the work of Chidiock Tichbourne, who wrote it just before his execution for the role he played in the Babington Plot
.
The story suggests that Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury — in which she famously said "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king" — was actually composed collaboratively in a conversation with the Earl of Leicester. This is not normally assumed to be the case.
The miniseries shows Elizabeth and Essex at Leceister's deathbed. This is fiction; Leicester died in 1588 at Cornbury Park near Oxford
on his way to take to the baths in Derbyshire
.
said, "It almost goes without saying that when Helen Mirren plays Elizabeth Tudor in HBO's new miniseries, the scenery becomes a veritable banquet table that gets picked clean in two nights ... [Her] performance is powerful enough to shatter your television screen, not to mention any notion you might have had that if you've seen one Elizabeth - Bette Davis
, Glenda Jackson
or Cate Blanchett
, for example - you've seen them all ... Right up there with Mirren, the rest of the cast is stellar. Irons, now a lion in winter, has sometimes settled into craggy self-parody
in lesser films. But here, he invests Leicester with as much depth and complexity as he can, and he is every bit Mirren's equal onscreen."
Brian Lowry of Variety
observed, "Somewhat plodding through its opening hour, Elizabeth I gains steam and then soars through its concluding installment ... watching Mirren sink her teeth into this role is a treat worth savoring ... Tom Hooper, who previously directed Mirren in Prime Suspect 6, indulges Williams' penchant for long, theatrical monologue
s, which require a little getting used to in the slow early going. Gradually, however, as with the best British costume drama, the narrative becomes absorbing."
58th Primetime Emmy Awards
64th Golden Globe Awards
12th Screen Actors Guild Awards
BAFTA Awards
Costume Designers Guild Award for Best Costume Design - Miniseries or TV Film
Tom Hooper (director)
Thomas George "Tom" Hooper is a British film and television director of English and Australian background. Hooper began making short films at the age of 13, and had his first professional short, Painted Faces, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1992. At Oxford University Hooper directed plays and...
. The teleplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Nigel Williams
Nigel Williams (author)
Nigel Williams is an English novelist, screenwriter and playwright.-Biography:He was educated at Highgate School and Oriel College, Oxford, is married with three sons and lives in Putney, south-west London...
concentrates on the last 25 years of the nearly 45-year-long reign of Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
.
The series originally was broadcast in the UK in two two-hour segments on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. It later aired on HBO in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
and TMN
The Movie Network
The Movie Network is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, ATV
Asia Television Limited
Asia Television Limited is one of the two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong, the other being rival Television Broadcasts Limited . It launched in 1957 under the name Rediffusion Television as the first television station in Hong Kong...
in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and TVNZ Television One in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
The series went on to win Emmy
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
, Peabody
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
, and Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s. The same year, Helen Mirren starred as the second Queen Elizabeth in The Queen
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
, with which she dominated the award season.
Plot
Part One focuses on Elizabeth's close and volatile relationship with her oldest friend and confidant, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, as it survives her contemplated marriage to the considerably younger Duke of Anjou
François, Duke of Anjou
Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.-Early years:...
, war with Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and his exile from and eventual return to the court, finally ending with his death in 1588.
Part Two follows Elizabeth through her later years, during which she has a passionate affair with the stepson of the Earl of Leicester, the much younger Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
, whose political ambitions frequently clash with his devotion and loyalty to the monarch. As Elizabeth finds her young lover's behavior becoming increasingly worrisome, she draws closer to Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
, who is named Secretary of State
Secretary of State (England)
In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary....
following the death of Sir Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
.
Chief among the problems facing the throne is the question of a successor, given Elizabeth has no heirs. Both the queen's first cousin, the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, and Mary's son, James VI of Scotland
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, would like to usurp Elizabeth from her position, but she is determined neither one will take her place.
Production
The series was filmed in VilniusVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, where the massive sets were constructed inside a sports arena. The church where Elizabeth and James VI meet is St. Anne's Church
St. Anne's Church, Vilnius
St. Anne's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Vilnius' Old Town, on the right bank of the Vilnia River. It is a prominent example of both Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles. St...
, built in 1500.
This series' broadcast forced the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
to postpone the premiere of The Virgin Queen
The Virgin Queen (TV show)
The Virgin Queen is a 2005 BBC and Power co-production, four-part miniseries based upon the life of Queen Elizabeth I, starring Anne-Marie Duff...
, also about Elizabeth I, until January/February 2006. Ewen Bremner
Ewen Bremner
-Early life:Bremner was born in Edinburgh, the son of two art teachers. He attended Davidson's Mains Primary School and Portobello High School. He originally wanted to be a circus clown, but was offered a chance in show business by television director Richard D. Brooks. One of his first notable...
appeared in both productions.
Historical inaccuracies
The screenplay explicitly mentions that Gilbert GiffordGilbert Gifford
Gilbert Gifford was a double agent who worked for Sir Francis Walsingham and played a role in the uncovering of the Babington Plot. Shortly before his death in Paris, he was ordained as a Catholic priest in Rheims...
attempted to murder Elizabeth I (in the first part of Episode One, which compresses events from 1579-1581). He is then seen being torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d and interrogated, but reappears in the second part of the episode (which compresses events from 1584-1588) to play his real historical part in the Babington Plot
Babington Plot
The Babington Plot was a Catholic plot in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. It led to the execution of Mary. The long-term goal was an invasion by the Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic league in...
. This part of the episode even includes a scene where Gifford meets the Queen and she acknowledges him as the perpetrator of the failed murder seven years before. The murder attempt never happened and, if it had, would inevitably have resulted in the perpetrator's execution.
It is suggested in dialogue that Leicester's son with his second wife, Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying...
, died aged 7. However, he died aged 3.
As in the 1800 play Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, Elizabeth visits Mary, Queen of Scots, in prison, although the cousins never met in real life.
Dialogue implies that the Duke of Anjou died seven years after his failed marriage attempt with Elizabeth, putting his death in the same year as the Babington Plot
Babington Plot
The Babington Plot was a Catholic plot in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. It led to the execution of Mary. The long-term goal was an invasion by the Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic league in...
. Actually the final rejection of the marriage proposal happened in 1581, the Duke died in 1584 and the Plot took place in 1586. This is one of several instances where artistic license for dramatic effect results in distortion of the actual timeline of events.
In 1588, while waiting on the beach to see if the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
is about to invade England, the Earl of Leicester uses a telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
to identify the flag on a ship sailing up the river. The telescope wasn't invented by Hans Lippershey
Hans Lippershey
Hans Lippershey , also known as Johann Lippershey or Lipperhey, was a German-Dutch lensmaker commonly associated with the invention of the telescope, although it is unclear if he was the first to build one.-Biography:...
until 1608.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is beheaded in a courtyard, but according to accounts written at the time she actually was executed inside Fotheringhay Castle
Fotheringhay Castle
Fotheringhay Castle was in the village of Fotheringhay 3½ miles to the north of the market town of Oundle, Northamptonshire .King Richard III was born here in 1452 and it was also where Mary, Queen of Scots, was tried and executed in 1587....
.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is stated to be Elizabeth's cousin, and is stated to be the daughter of Henry VIII's sister, Margaret, while, in reality, she was the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister, Margaret
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
, making her Elizabeth's first cousin once removed.
In Episode Two, the Queen transfers the monopoly on sweet wines to the Earl of Essex as a prize after the English Armada
English Armada
The English Armada, also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake-Norris Expedition, was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian Coast by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1589, during the Anglo-Spanish War...
expedition to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The transfer actually happened a year earlier as an inheritance from Essex's stepfather the Earl of Leicester.
The marriage of Essex and Frances Walsingham
Frances Walsingham
Frances Walsingham, Countess of Essex and Countess of Clanricarde was an English noblewoman. The daughter of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's Secretary of State, she became the wife of Sir Philip Sidney at age 14. Her second husband was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's...
is shown as happening after the execution of Doctor Lopez
Rodrigo Lopez (physician)
Rodrigo Lopez was physician to Queen Elizabeth, and may have been an inspiration for Shakespeare's Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.He was born in Crato, Portugal and raised as a New Christian...
. The marriage actually happened in 1590, four years before Lopez's execution in 1594.
Other scenes relating to the accusations against Lopez and the appointment of a new Attorney General (both having happened in 1594) also involve Frances' father, Sir Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
, who actually died in 1590, four years before the execution and the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
controversy about the Attorney-generalship.
The screenplay depicts the Queen appointing Essex as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on the day of Lord Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
's burial in August 1598 while it actually happened only in early 1599 after bitter infighting between Essex and Burghley's son Sir Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
.
Robert Cecil presents Elizabeth with a poem the Earl of Essex allegedly wrote just before his execution. The piece she reads aloud actually was the work of Chidiock Tichbourne, who wrote it just before his execution for the role he played in the Babington Plot
Babington Plot
The Babington Plot was a Catholic plot in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. It led to the execution of Mary. The long-term goal was an invasion by the Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic league in...
.
The story suggests that Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury — in which she famously said "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king" — was actually composed collaboratively in a conversation with the Earl of Leicester. This is not normally assumed to be the case.
The miniseries shows Elizabeth and Essex at Leceister's deathbed. This is fiction; Leicester died in 1588 at Cornbury Park near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
on his way to take to the baths in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
.
Cast
- Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
..... Elizabeth IElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty... - Jeremy IronsJeremy IronsJeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
..... Earl of LeicesterRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of LeicesterRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death... - Hugh DancyHugh Dancy- Early life and career :Dancy was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of British philosopher Jonathan Dancy, a professor at the University of Reading and at the University of Texas at Austin. His mother, Sarah, is a publisher. His brother, Jack, is a co-director of the travel company, Trufflepig...
..... Earl of EssexRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599... - Toby JonesToby JonesToby Edward Heslewood Jones is an English actor.-Early life:Jones was born in Hammersmith, London, the son of actors Jennifer and Freddie Jones...
..... Sir Robert CecilRobert Cecil, 1st Earl of SalisburyRobert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke... - Patrick MalahidePatrick MalahidePatrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
..... Sir Francis WalsinghamFrancis WalsinghamSir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security... - Ian McDiarmidIan McDiarmidIan McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
..... Lord BurghleyWilliam Cecil, 1st Baron BurghleyWilliam Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572... - Jérémie Covillault ..... Duke of Anjou
- Barbara FlynnBarbara FlynnBarbara Flynn is an English actress. She first became known for her appearance in the ITV drama A Family at War, that followed the fortunes of a lower middle class family living in Liverpool from 1938 and through World War II.During the 1980s Flynn's acting skills led to her being cast in several...
..... Mary, Queen of Scots - Ewen BremnerEwen Bremner-Early life:Bremner was born in Edinburgh, the son of two art teachers. He attended Davidson's Mains Primary School and Portobello High School. He originally wanted to be a circus clown, but was offered a chance in show business by television director Richard D. Brooks. One of his first notable...
..... James VI, King of ScotsJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603... - Toby Salaman ..... Dr LopezRodrigo Lopez (physician)Rodrigo Lopez was physician to Queen Elizabeth, and may have been an inspiration for Shakespeare's Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.He was born in Crato, Portugal and raised as a New Christian...
- Charlotte Asprey ..... Frances WalsinghamFrances WalsinghamFrances Walsingham, Countess of Essex and Countess of Clanricarde was an English noblewoman. The daughter of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's Secretary of State, she became the wife of Sir Philip Sidney at age 14. Her second husband was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's...
- Geoffrey Streatfield ..... Sir Anthony BabingtonAnthony BabingtonAnthony Babington was convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots...
- David Delve ..... Sir Francis DrakeFrancis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
- Martin MarquezMartin MarquezMartin Marquez is a British actor.He is best known on television for his role as Gino Primirola, the head barman, in the British TV comedy drama Hotel Babylon...
..... Don Bernardino de MendozaBernardino de MendozaBernardino de Mendoza was a Spanish military commander, a diplomat and a writer on military history and politics.- Life and works :Bernardino de Mendoza was born in Guadalajara, Spain around 1540... - Rimantas Bagdzevicius ..... Lord Howard of EffinghamCharles Howard, 1st Earl of NottinghamCharles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham , known as Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I...
- Will KeenWill KeenWill Keen is an English actor. He is also a trustee of the James Menzies Kitchen Award, an award set up for young theatre directors in memory of the director with whom Keen collaborated early in his career...
..... Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England... - Eddie RedmayneEddie RedmayneEdward John David "Eddie" Redmayne is an English actor and model. Redmayne won the 2010 Tony Award as best featured actor in a play for his performance in Red.-Early life:...
..... Earl of SouthamptonHenry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of SouthamptonHenry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu... - Ben Pullen ..... Sir Walter RaleighWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
- Diana Kent ..... Lady EssexLettice KnollysLettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying...
- Simon WoodsSimon WoodsSimon Woods is an English actor best known for his role as Octavian in Season 2 of the British-American television series Rome and the 2005 Pride & Prejudice as Mr. Charles Bingley...
..... GiffordGilbert GiffordGilbert Gifford was a double agent who worked for Sir Francis Walsingham and played a role in the uncovering of the Babington Plot. Shortly before his death in Paris, he was ordained as a Catholic priest in Rheims...
Critical reception
David Wiegand of the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
said, "It almost goes without saying that when Helen Mirren plays Elizabeth Tudor in HBO's new miniseries, the scenery becomes a veritable banquet table that gets picked clean in two nights ... [Her] performance is powerful enough to shatter your television screen, not to mention any notion you might have had that if you've seen one Elizabeth - Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
or Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
, for example - you've seen them all ... Right up there with Mirren, the rest of the cast is stellar. Irons, now a lion in winter, has sometimes settled into craggy self-parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
in lesser films. But here, he invests Leicester with as much depth and complexity as he can, and he is every bit Mirren's equal onscreen."
Brian Lowry of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
observed, "Somewhat plodding through its opening hour, Elizabeth I gains steam and then soars through its concluding installment ... watching Mirren sink her teeth into this role is a treat worth savoring ... Tom Hooper, who previously directed Mirren in Prime Suspect 6, indulges Williams' penchant for long, theatrical monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
s, which require a little getting used to in the slow early going. Gradually, however, as with the best British costume drama, the narrative becomes absorbing."
Awards
58th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, August 27, 2006 on NBC at 8:00pm ET with Conan O'Brien hosting the show...
- Outstanding Miniseries
- Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries (Helen Mirren)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries (Jeremy Irons)
- Outstanding Art Direction
- Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries
- Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries
- Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries
64th Golden Globe Awards
64th Golden Globe Awards
The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards were aired on January 15, 2007. Some key dates announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are:The ceremony was broadcast live on NBC...
- Best Television Mini-Series
- Best Actress in a Mini-Series (Mirren)
- Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series (Irons)
12th Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Outstanding Female Actor in a Mini-Series (Mirren)
- Outstanding Male Actor in a Mini-Series (Irons)
BAFTA Awards
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
- Best Original Television Music
Costume Designers Guild Award for Best Costume Design - Miniseries or TV Film
Costume Designers Guild Award for Best Costume Design - Miniseries or TV Film
The Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Costume Design for Mini-Series or TV Film was awarded for the first time in 2006, honouring 2005 filmmaking.-2000s:*2005: Elvis*2006: Elizabeth I*2007: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee...