Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets

Historian and author Dan Jones hosts this popular history of the bloody Plantagenet monarchs, who ruled England from 1154 to 1485. Dressed casually and speaking even more casually (prisoners are “banged up” in the Tower of London, poor military decisions are labeled as “bonkers,” and wives are sometimes “chucked”), Jones shares the hammy fervency and fondness for the vernacular displayed by Simon Schama in A History of Britain (VL Online-3/01), but he doesn't quite convey Schama's authoritative sense, nor can he match Schama's felicity with choice bon mots. Made for Channel 5 by filmmakers Oliver Twinch and James Tovell, Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty plays something like Game of Thrones lite, serving up blood, breasts, and beheadings in (often repetitious) dramatic re-enactments. But the subjects of this four-part series are a dramatically rich bunch: dynasty founder Henry II, who engaged in church-and-state power struggles with frenemy Archbishop Thomas Becket (murdered in the cathedral in Canterbury in 1170, after the king's supporters took Henry's angry remarks a bit too literally); Henry III, whose “25-year grudge match” with influential upstart Simon de Montfort would lead to both civil war and the foundations of what would later become Parliament; Edward II, an ineffective monarch who would be cuckolded by nobleman Roger Mortimer and eventually deposed; and Richard II, an out-and-out tyrant who would forcefully put down the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, but wind up in the Tower at the end—as the last Plantagenet. Throughout the series, Jones makes visits to the British Library and National Archives to examine key source documents, wanders through castle ruins, and describes what modern locales would have looked like in days of yore. But Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty is decidedly not like more somber and erudite histories such as Kenneth Clark's Civilisation. To wit: Jones here assures viewers that the story of Edward II expiring due to a red hot poker shoved up his arse is most likely pure fiction; but that doesn't stop the filmmakers from presenting a sphincter-tightening dramatization. Still, the basic history is solid, and the baser approach may well appeal to a wider audience. Extras include profiles of Plantagenet queens, and a booklet with a map, timelines, and brief articles. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)