Movies & Television: british drama › Item #126560323

Political, romantic, and religious intrigue confront
Elizabeth Tudor (1533-1603) in this acclaimed six-part television
series chronicling her early life as a princess and her reign as
queen of England (1558-1603). While still a princess, Elizabeth
(Glenda Jackson) exonerates herself from a plot to kidnap young
Edward VI (Jason Kemp). Then, after Edward dies, Elizabeth's
sister, Mary (Caroline Harris), assumes the throne and imposes
Catholicism on her subjects, but Elizabeth refuses to disavow her
Protestantism. After Mary announces plans to wed the Catholic king
of Spain, the people rise up in favor of Elizabeth, but Mary
imprisons her in the Tower of London. Happily for Elizabeth, Mary
dies without an heir, and Elizabeth becomes queen. Although urged
to marry, Elizabeth stalls, content to maintain a relationship with
Robert Dudley (Robert Hardy), Master of the Horse, whom Elizabeth
makes Earl of Leicester. Then Mary Queen of Scots (Vivian Pickles)
claims the English throne, and Elizabeth tries to pacify her in an
unsuccessful attempt to marry her to Dudley. Meanwhile, the French
-- battlefield rivals of the Spaniards -- propose an alliance with
England and urge Elizabeth to marry the French king's brother, the
Duc d'Alençon (Michael Williams), a Catholic. Though
officials draw up a marriage contract, Elizabeth ignores it. By
this time, Mary Queen of Scots is in prison, and Protestant agents
implicate her in a trumped-up plot against Elizabeth. Elizabeth
orders her execution. The angry Spanish then attack with their
mighty Armada, but the English defeat them and strengthen
Elizabeth's hold on power. In the later years of her reign,
Elizabeth attempts to appease an unruly court favorite, the Earl of
Essex, with special appointments, but he eventually turns against
her and leads an uprising against the crown two years before the
queen's death. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide