The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family

This is almost unbearable to watch, and I could not get through the first episode. The talking heads are completely unnecessary and offer no insight at all, delivery trite social comments that are hardly considered opinion. I do begin to wonder about the worth of these programmes in capturing the historical fact ; it would be far better to have a miniseries , like the White Queen that blended historical fact with creative licence - but heck at least it was interesting. This dribble is unwatchable.

What's with the people putting down this show? Okay, they filmed it at the proper location(s), they probably found the actors who looked (sort of) like the real persons. Okay, so they added some juicy stuff to it (to make it more interesting). The truth is, everyone who rated this show so badly could not have personally have done half as good as this.

The experts who were interviewed seemed to know what they were talking about. Half of them I am sure live at those locations, too (too spooky for me though), but it's like being a fly on the wall, and to witness these people, makes a very interesting story.

Have seen it more than once, and I find it very enjoyable!

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.

There was a brief mention in Episode 3 alluding to Anne's role in the Reformation. In fact, it wouldn't have happened as it did were it not for her efforts. I can imagine someone thought of the "scandalous" title and decided to write the series around it. The Boleyns were no more or less ambitious than a cartload of others such as the Seymours, but Anne is presented as a schemer and a seducer, if not in fact an adulteress. The script managed to suggest that the reason for her downfall was going too far in flirtation. For those interested in the actual history, the biography by Eric Ives, "The Life and Death of Anne Bolyn" is definitive. Others have commented on problems with the costumes, hairstyles, acting, commentaries, etc., but for me the great failure is the lack of understanding why Thomas More set out to destroy her and why Henry, the absolute monster, had her head cut off. On the positive side, the actress portraying Anne did a nice job of suggestng her charm.

After Channel five's abomination of The Anne Boleyn story, I was expecting great things from this BBC drama documentary.

All in all, it's pretty good, it's very practical, very informative, it provides you with lots of facts, and historically accurate information about the whole of the family, in particular the rise and fall of Anne.

I loved the accuracy of the info, I was less than impressed by the drama elements, at times it looked a little bit cheap, The BBC are renowned for their costume dramas, but this unfortunately doesn't cut the mustard.

Watchable, informative, just wanted a bit more from it, 6/10.