The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

Name: The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Rating: 8.1

Rating: 8.1

Synopsis

A six-episode dramatisation of Henry VIII's relationships with each of his six wives. Each episode, with a different writer, is devoted to one wife, and is a complete play in itself.

First Air Date: 1970-01-01

Last Air Date: 1970-02-05

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 6

Created By: Maurice Cowan

Networks: BBC Two

View Technical Specifications on IMDb

Top Cast

Keith Michell as Henry VIII of England
Anthony Quayle as Narrator
Patrick Troughton as Duke of Norfolk
Bernard Hepton as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
Basil Dignam as Bishop Gardiner
Sheila Burrell as Lady Rochford
Wolfe Morris as Thomas Cromwell
Angela Pleasence as Catherine Howard
Dorothy Tutin as Anne Boleyn
Howard Goorney as Will Somers

Seasons

None (1970)

No overview available for this season.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: Catherine of Aragon (1970-01-01)

Catalina of Aragon, a Spanish princess, is set to wed Arthur Tudor, eldest son on King Henry VII. Shortly after they wed, Arthur is taken by illness. Catalina then catches the eye of Arthur's brother, Henry. When Henry VII dies, he tells his son Henry that he must marry Catalina. Henry becomes the King of England and marries Catalina. Being loved by her new subjects, Catalina changes her name to the English version, Catherine. After many years, she is still loved by her subjects, but it's a different story with her husband.
Ep. 2: Anne Boleyn (1970-01-08)

This second episode of the series overlaps with the first, and thus begins when Queen Anne and King Henry are already estranged. After several pregnancies, Anne has provided her husband with only one surviving child, Princess Elizabeth. Extremely unpopular with both the public and the aristocracy, Anne has few friends to protect her when Henry's eye lights upon the virginal Jane Seymour.
Ep. 3: Jane Seymour (1970-01-15)

Anxious to rid himself of the shrewish Anne Boleyn, and desperate for a son, Henry is charmed by the naive and pious Jane, the daughter of a wealthy country aristocrat.
Ep. 4: Anne of Cleves (1970-01-22)

Religious strife between Catholics and Protestants continues to swell in Europe. To try to balance the Catholic threat of France and Spain, Thomas Cromwell persuades King Henry into a political marriage with the sister of the Protestant German Duke of Cleves.
Ep. 5: Catherine Howard (1970-01-29)

The powerful Duke of Norfolk, the leading Catholic aristocrat in England, dangles his teenaged niece Catherine Howard before the aging but still amorous King Henry, who foolishly marries her.
Ep. 6: Catherine Parr (1970-02-05)

Corpulent and old, Henry makes a final trip to the altar, with the puritan Lady Latimer, Catherine Parr. The new queen brings Henry’s estranged daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, back into the family fold, but irritates the king by debating religion with him and his advisors.