The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family

Because the propagandists at the BBC were more interested in putting women in front of the camera than they were in creating an informative program, we get this kind of dreck.

To disguise the amateurish opinions expressed by the "experts", we're treated to another overly dramatic, overly long costume drama. Shiny, color objects dangled in front of our eyes and ears to make us think we're watching something of substance, when all we're really watching is a political agenda.

Excellent series about a family at the very heart of the English Reformation.

It is not about the drama, it is about the commentary.

Experts include Oxford's finest, the excellent Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of church history.

There's plenty of inaccurate history in this miniseries. Anne Boleyn's time in France was touched upon but the fact that her older sister Mary was also part of the French court is not touched upon at all. Mary Boleyn had a reputation as a person of uncertain virtue. Not only did she become Henry VIII's mistress, but she was also rumored to have slept with the French king so the portrayal of her as an unwilling mistress is entirely false. Even the portrayal of Anne as "beautiful" was false. She was considered to be fairly plain: she had a sallow complexion and dark hair and a bosom "not much raised" at a time when women of fair coloring were considered to represent the ideal of beauty.

Many pivotal figures are not represented here. What happened to Thomas Moore and Jane Rochfort for example?

I hoped for more historical accuracy.

The actors were a bit odd with the wigs. But I found it very strange we never really see Henry VIII and that there is no mention of Thomas More who was also beheaded. Gave all the credit re reformation to Anne. Interesting. Watched this on a flight.

I thought this was splendid. The actors were amazing- and I enjoyed how a lot of the history was spoken through their eyes. I do realize that we as a society will Never fully know everything that happened during this period, but I do feel that now I have a better understanding. I can't even begin to imagine how the simple act of living, and being was during that period... least of all to be a female. Of course, they didn't understand yet that it's the Male that determines the sex of a child... Can you imagine how Different history would have turned out??

If you are a lover of Anne Boleyn/ Tudor history, this is a must watch in my opinion.