This mini-series was less entertaining than I had hoped, though perhaps partly because I have read so much and watched so many programs on the subject that there wasn’t a lot of new information for me here. But also they seemed to keep showing the same images over and over, both of people and places. I suppose it is because there weren’t very many contemporary images to choose from, but it made it less than stunning visually, to say the least.
But I can’t fault the enthusiasm and energy of the host, historian Tracy Berman. She takes on the hushed and awed tones of all tv historians and archaeologists when presented with old bones, books and artifacts. And I will say that some of the details she passed along after describing the execution of Anne Boleyn, and giving us a look at Queen Elizabeth’s ring, helped make it worth watching the series for me. And if you aren’t as familiar with the Anne Boleyn story as I was, you will get even more out of it.
