"Elizabeth R" (1971)

Now when I'm finally done with pointless and ever-evolving soap bubbles of TV serial "Under the Dome", it took me some time before I decided to take a look at another TV serial. But playing safe, I decided to look at something that I know its tried and proved classic.

I vaguely remember this cornerstone of BBC historical drama from my childhood (along with "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", "Onedin Line" and "I Claudius") and had some idea about main actress being celebrated for her über-realistic portrait of Virgin Queen. There were actresses before (notably Bette Davis) and after her (Helen Mirren, Cate Blanchett) but Glenda Jackson seems to stand as towering presence above them all, as simply perfect for that role. This is something I wanted to see again for a long time, even toyed with idea to order it from Internet and than to my biggest surprise found the complete DVD set on Amsterdam's second-hand record market (one of those things that I can't resist) for some ridiculously small price. 

Last night I treated myself with a first episode - apparently the idea was that each episode has different scriptwriter - just as I expected, production back than was far less glamorous than what we got used to later. Most of the scenes were shot indoors and everything was kept very simple, without any bombastic special effects, visual gimmicks or breathless computer-animated swirls around the screen - this was early 1970s TV and it shows. It reminds me of my childhood when singers on TV performed in front of some plastic chair or ikebana and that was all. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the story or acting - Glenda Jackson is simply stunning as young Elizabeth and we can almost see little wheels turning in her brain as she tries to get herself out of dangerous situations, political intrigues and potential death in prison, virtually alone while all those people plotted around her. If the men's roles were not so distinguishable from each other (so far), this very first episode has really good, strong moments for actresses - I missed the name of actress who played Mary Tudor, but she was darn excellent as well (p.s. Daphne Slater) I also noted the supporting role of Elizabeth's faithful nurse/servant Kat (just like every other character here, she is based on real historical person) who turned out, was played by Vanessa Redgrave's mother! This TV serial was also famous for make-up and prosthetics used to change Elizabeth's appearance but this would come later as here in first episode she was still very young and had not transformed into icy icon that she would became. Very interesting!