Anne Boleyn

Yes, what happened to Catherine Howard was wicked.

Whatdayisit

Ilovecheese - i find the whole experience at the Tower of London quite emotionally draining. Some places just have a thick energy still especially around Traitors Gate.
Now that is something that hasn't been done to death or very much at all - witchhunts in England.
I suspect there would be outcries of 'too far' and 'more nonsense from the Woke brigade'. I bet Laurence Fox would enjoy playing a Witchhunter General.

I would have thought the reverse, really - the so-called 'woke brigade' would be more likely to want to see injustice exposed, particularly when it is injustice against women, but maybe I have misunderstood what you mean by 'the woke brigade'.

Deedaa Catherine Howard's story is very sad, isn't it? She was so very young to be married off to an old, fat, festering man, and then to be executed because of her previous relationship is horribly cruel.

I remember feeling the temperature drop as I walked down the gallery at Hampton Court where Catherine Howard is supposed to have run to try and reach Henry. I've heard Lucy Worsley say the effect is well known and they frequently have visitors fainting.

Ilovecheese - i find the whole experience at the Tower of London quite emotionally draining. Some places just have a thick energy still especially around Traitors Gate.
Now that is something that hasn't been done to death or very much at all - witchhunts in England.
I suspect there would be outcries of 'too far' and 'more nonsense from the Woke brigade'. I bet Laurence Fox would enjoy playing a Witchhunter General.

It's rather creepy that there are execution sites in all our towns and we walk right past them often not knowing. Innocent women burnt as witches as well. So tragic to think how cheap life was back then, people executed for no good reason. Now we keep even the most evil people alive. I feel a new thread coming on.......

Whatdayisit

I have to say both me and my husband were moved to tears when we stood where Anne was executed. I don't feel the AB story has been done to death and would like more about Elizabeth 1. They are always trying to do her down - mother and daughter - and still glorify Henry.

I know what you mean about the place where she was executed (although I have heard tiny rumours about the accuracy of the actual spot)
Her story is heart breaking.

Chestnut

In the late 20thC the BBC made really high quality historical dramas which focused on accuracy and attention to detail. I don't think they can be surpassed. Making it 'topical' to attract younger viewers, with no attempt at accuracy, doesn't do them any favours.

Well, they were accurate as far as the evidence available at the time suggested, according to one interpretation, but I don't think they can be regarded as definitive.

I think you might be right about our brains expecting a quicker pace now, perhaps because so much information is instantaneously available now, we are not used to a slow trawl of discovery.
The Mayor of Casterbridge is fiction though, so there is a definitive version, because there is only the one book.

I have to say both me and my husband were moved to tears when we stood where Anne was executed. I don't feel the AB story has been done to death and would like more about Elizabeth 1. They are always trying to do her down - mother and daughter - and still glorify Henry.

Old dramas are very plodding by today's standards. You have to get your brain accustomed to the slow pace. Ultimately it's worthwhile because they are so detailed with superb acting. I watched The Mayor of Casterbridge with Alan Bates and it was very slow and plodding, but I was so glad to have watched it because it was superb. Maybe our brains are now being reprogrammed to a faster pace which may not be good. ?

I re-watched the Keith Mitchel version the other day, and it was so clunky and overdone by today’s standards.

I remembered it as being an example of great tv drama - I was a child when it was first broadcast, and it sparked my interest in all things Tudor - but it has definitely dated. I was quite disappointed.

In the late 20thC the BBC made really high quality historical dramas which focused on accuracy and attention to detail. I don't think they can be surpassed. Making it 'topical' to attract younger viewers, with no attempt at accuracy, doesn't do them any favours.

I don't think I would ever be bored by this story. It is universal in that is about love and about what happens when love is gone, I think it is relatable and timeless. Imagine her fear, she knew that all that could secure her position was to give birth to a boy. Did she ever really believe he would have her killed in order to marry someone else. She was a young woman, she must have been terrified, puzzled and confused, to go from being adored to being hated within three years. Facinating.

How can execution for trumped up charges of treason be not sensational.

Drama is different to documentary.

The return to the same period is boring, when there are other countries history, and other periods that can be drawn from.

I still believe the fact Henry is such a universal character, makes him a good vehicle to sell programs to the wider world, and that is the reason he is returned to again and again.

I agree new information (Henry and Annes letters have been referred to many times before) does necessitate a new look at a period.

This is a drama. So to make it more topical, the producers have included a black actor, imv to create interest.

Ilove cheese - I can't imagine Henry and Anne's story being overly sensationalised for The Six Wives of Henry VIII with Keith Michell. They played it very straight back then. I think I'd like to watch that out of interest, though maybe would have to buy it on DVD.

You'd make an excellent producer and continuity person, Buttonjugs!
Many of those things irritate me too, although I don't think I'm as observant as I used to be.

I do understand the OP - I can’t watch anything that punctures my belief in a drama. It’s nothing to do with being racist, I don’t like period drama showing the wrong kind of pram for the era, I don’t like spotting a double glazed window, or using phrases or terminology that didn’t exist at the time. I don’t like the wrong fashion or hairstyle either. I can’t help it, although I strongly suspect I am on the Autistic spectrum.

To be fair, Chestnut the story of Henry and Anne is about love and sex and is very sensational.
The stories will have the same basis in truth as any other version of historical events. They are all interpretations.

Different ways of looking at historical events can be fascinating, we can never state that "this is what happened and there can be no argument " there is always a new way to look at or think about events, one reason history is of enduring fascination.

I agree, and get frustrated when people insist that historical interpretations are 'facts', or are based on 'truth'.

We don't know what happened between man and wife then, any more than we do now. We know about battles and coronations and approximate dates of births and deaths (there is controversy about whether AB was born in 1501 or 1507, for instance), but the personal lives of the people involved are largely unknown, which is why I have found the various interpretations over the years worth watching, and the numerous books on the subject worth reading.

Ilovecheese* ^Different ways of looking at historical events can be fascinating, we can never state that "this is what happened and there can be no argument " there is always a new way to look at or think about events, one reason history is of enduring fascination
That would be true if these new productions were anything other than sexed-up sensationalism which is what they seem to be. Do they have much basis in truth?

I don't think you can ever say that a period in history has been "done to death". There is no definitive version of what actually happened in any past event. History is always being reevaluated in particular when new evidence or artifacts have been discovered.
Just recently some letters were found that seem to show that Anne loved Henry just as much as he loved her and she is not the schemer that she is sometimes portrayed. Different ways of looking at historical events can be fascinating, we can never state that "this is what happened and there can be no argument " there is always a new way to look at or think about events, one reason history is of enduring fascination .
This particular production, I have read is going to concentrate on the latter part of Anne's reign. Just imagine how frightened she must have been, absolutely of enduring interest.

Yes 'they' do seem to enjoy covering g the same ground over and over nanna8
As I said previously, I think it has to do with choosing subject matter that appeals to a wider audience than just the UK.
You mention the Titanic, and
The fact that the history channels are filled with programs about it proves my point i think!

No it’s been done to death and I wouldn’t watch it if you paid me. Too many previous very good versions. Have they no creative imagination that they have to dredge this up yet again? I suppose we’ll get yet another version of The Titanic next.

No, not that Henry cared, he was out hunting and partying with his next victim.

Not at the time, Namsnanny!
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