Since I had finished
watching all the House of Tudor BBC royal series, I thought I would give the
House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha a chance and watch Edward the Seventh. I had
never been fond of ‘Bertie’, the Playboy Prince, as an historical character,
but the short-lived ‘Edwardian Era’ had produced both Sherlock Holmes and Mr.
Toad, and, compared to the following horrors of World War One, seemed to have a
fading golden glow. I was pleased to find familiar faces. Annette Crosbie as
Queen Victoria - Mrs. Meldrew from One Foot in the Grave, the voice of
Galadriel in Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings; Michael Hordern as Lord
Gladstone - Dr. Gilpin in Yellowbeard, the voice of Gandalf in the 1981
radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, among many other roles; and
eventually I recognized Timothy West (who died only last year), who played the
grown-up Edward, as Bishop Cauchon from The Messenger: The Story of Joan of
Arc. I came away with a more sympathetic view of ‘Bertie’ than I had
before.
Watching this series brought
up Fall of Eagles in my YouTube queue and I’ve been giving that a
browse. It has Edward (not played by West here) as an incidental connecting
figure (he was related to all the ‘Eagles’ through his mother, Victoria; the
eventual horror of WWI was something of a family affair). Jack Pulman (I,
Claudius) had done some writing work on it, and Patrick Stewart plays Lenin,
in rather inspired casting. Other familiar faces include John Rhys-Davies,
Freddie Jones, Tony Jay, and Maurice Denham. Michael Hordern was the Narrator.
Edward the Seventh is
a 1975 British historical drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes.
Based on the biography
of King Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it
stars Annette Crosbie as
Queen Victoria, Timothy West as the elder Edward
VII, with Simon Gipps-Kent and Charles
Sturridge as Edward during his youth. Helen
Ryan and Deborah
Grant featured as the elder and younger Queen Alexandra respectively.
It was directed by John Gorrie, who wrote episodes
7–10 with David Butler writing
the remainder of the series.
Only the final three
episodes dramatised Edward as King (in line with his short, nine-year reign,
which did not begin until he was nearly sixty years old). Annette Crosbie, who
won a BAFTA for
her performance, was given top billing in the series (appearing in ten out of
the thirteen episodes). - Wikipedia
Episode One:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psarl9Ugg88&list=PLYTr6vL2ZffrLeLVnrPivWVee-QbSXC0f
Fall of Eagles is
a 13-part British television drama aired by the BBC in
1974. The series was created by John Elliot and produced
by Stuart Burge. The series portrays
historical events from 1848 to 1918, focusing on three ruling dynasties:
the Habsburgs of Austria-Hungary,
the Hohenzollerns of Germany and
the Romanovs of Russia.
The scriptwriters were Keith
Dewhurst, John Elliot, Trevor
Griffiths, Elizabeth Holford, Ken
Hughes, Troy Kennedy Martin, Robert Muller, Jack
Pulman, David Turner and Hugh
Whitemore.
The series tells the story
of the final decades of three great empires brought to downfall by historical
events. Each empire used an eagle in
its heraldry. The central theme is the effects of centuries of despotism, with
a lack of social reform and the devastating effects of World
War I, that caused revolutionary movements to form. It
begins in the aftermath of the Revolutions of 1848 and
continues through the Armistice of 11 November 1918,
covering about 70 years of history in 13 episodes. The episodes' vignettes
move between the three empires: Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia. - Wikipedia
Episode One:
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