Channel 5’s Anne Boleyn is corny and forgettable This historical drama is full of inert dialogue, cheesy props and stapled-on proto-feminism. Most people would say that Hilary Mantel has rewritten the Tudor playbook to the degree that there’s little point in revisiting the story of Henry VIII and his disposable wives unless your approach is unimpeachably radical; Jean Plaidy (her soapy historical novels were much loved when I was a teenager) and
The Tudors (the dire 2007-10 Showtime series starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers) are a long way behind us now, thank God. But at Channel 5, they seem to disagree. In its universe – not to mention that of Eve Hedderwick Turner, the writer of its new drama,
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Talking about the new show stills and the anniversary of Anne Boleyn s death, Jodie said: There s so much about Anne’s legend that people believe – whether it s that she was a witch, she had six fingers, or that she had an incestuous relationship with her brother – we ve seen all these things portrayed in popular culture. I think that for the most part we ve seen (Anne’s) story told through the lens of the other people around her.
Historic: Henry VIII s second wife Anne Boleyn was famously beheaded on 19 May in 1536 for high treason after failing to produce a male heir (Jodie pictured as Anne, right, in still)
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It then shows her in childbirth, desperately asking if her child was a boy before she is seen arguing with King Henry VIII (Mark Stanley) yelling: You promised me sons.
Another character is heard asking Anne if her husband no longer visits her chamber, and King Henry is seen giving Jane Seymour (Lola Petticrew) an affectionate look as he and Anne attend a party.
Doomed: The trailer opens with Thomas Cromwell (Barry Ward) informing Anne she is being charged with treason, to which she immediately pleads not guilty
Events: It also shows her in childbirth, desperately asking if her child was a boy , Anne famously gave birth to Elizabeth who went on to be the Queen of England