Elizabeth R


Elizabeth R is a BBC television drama serial of six 85-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I of England. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia and broadcast in America on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.

Production

The production was filmed at a variety of locations including Penshurst Place which doubled as the queen's castle grounds and Chiddingstone in Kent.
The first episode was broadcast on, beginning on screen in the year 1549 with the then Princess Elizabeth's difficult ascent to the throne of England nine years later. The final episode was shown on, the 368th anniversary of the Queen's death on.
The series followed the successful Six Wives of Henry VIII, with several performers reprising their roles in Elizabeth R from the earlier series, notably Bernard Hepton as Cranmer, Basil Dignam as Bishop Gardiner, John Ronane as Thomas Seymour, and Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr.
In February 1972, Elizabeth R first aired in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre, then hosted by Alistair Cooke on PBS. In the summer of 1972, it was rebroadcast with commercials on the New York local station WOR-TV Channel 9.
Glenda Jackson's performance in the title role won her two Emmy Awards - for Best Actress in a Drama Series and Best Actress in a Movie/TV Special. The series itself won the Emmy for the Best Dramatic Series in 1972. At around the same time, Jackson also played the part of Elizabeth in the film Mary, Queen of Scots.
Costume designer Elizabeth Waller recreated many of the historical Elizabeth's actual gowns for Glenda Jackson, adapting them from a number of the Queen's famous official portraits.
Elizabeth R featured many well-known British actors, including Malcolm McFee, Michael Williams, Margaretta Scott, John Woodvine, James Laurenson, Angela Thorne, Brian Wilde, Robin Ellis, Robert Hardy, and Peter Egan.
The series was parodied in Monty Python's Flying Circus in an absurdist sketch where a Japanese film director, disguised unconvincingly as Luchino Visconti, forces his cast to perform as Queen Elizabeth's court while sitting on motor-scooters and speaking Engrish. Therefore, the title was changed to "Erizabeth L".
Elizabeth R was first released for DVD Region 1 during 2001 by BBC Warner and then re-released by BBC Worldwide in 2011. In DVD Region 2, it was issued by 2 Entertain in 2006.

Cast

Note: This list is incomplete.