Elizabeth I and Her Enemies

This three-part British documentary miniseries serves up a biographical profile of Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) through speculative dramatic re-enactments that are punctuated by commentary from two historians, Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb and Dan Jones. The emphasis lies on the obstacles that Elizabeth had to overcome at each stage of her life. The first hour focuses on the dangers she faced prior to her succession in 1559: the execution of her mother Anne Boleyn on charges of treason, the hostility of her father Henry VIII, and the attempts to use her as a political pawn during the reigns of her half-brother Edward VI and half-sister Mary. The second part is essentially an account of her rivalry with Mary, Queen of Scots, who challenged Elizabeth for the throne. And the final episode concentrates on the abortive effort by King Philip II of Spain to overthrow Elizabeth in 1588 with the Spanish Armada fleet, as well as the rebellion fostered against the queen by her erstwhile lover Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex. As a whole, the series is rather mediocre popular history: the observations by Lipscomb and Jones are relatively simplistic and at times sensationalistic, while the re-creations are far inferior to those found in TV dramas like Masterpiece Theatre and feature films. Still, this might encourage deeper study of Elizabeth, making it a strong optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)