The Virgin Queen is a 2005 BBC and Power co-production, four-part miniseries based upon the life of Queen Elizabeth I, starring Anne-Marie Duff and Tom Hardy as Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. It was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Serial in 2007.

Plot

From her time as a young princess in her early twenties to her death in 1603, The Virgin Queen explores both the public and private life of Queen Elizabeth I (Anne-Marie Duff). The series focuses on the internal motivation behind 25-year-old Elizabeth's vow of chastity upon her ascension to the throne. As a child, she confides in her friend Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (Tom Hardy), that she wishes to never marry. Her relationship with Dudley, who would later become master of the Queen's horses, spans the four-part series and calls into question the ambiguous nature of their relations. The series features a scene where a dreaming Elizabeth fantasizes about making love to Dudley. History and politics are intertwined throughout the series, from England's defeat of the Spanish Armada to the change from a Catholic to a Protestant nation, Elizabeth uses her power and her court to maintain her will.

Production

Co-Produced by the BBC and Power television for £9 million, The Virgin Queen was filmed at Pinewood Studios in summer 2005. Originally intended to air on BBC One in September 2005, the date would have coincided with the release of the Channel 4 two-part miniseries Elizabeth I (starring Helen Mirren). Due to the conflict, the BBC decided to delay the UK release until after the US opening in November 2005 on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre.

Despite being a biopic of Elizabeth's life and reign, the series presented its main character with particular interest in several themes, most notably the emotional impact of her mother's execution and her love for Leicester.

Cast and credits

Cast

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!align="left"|Role

!align="left"|Portrayed by

!align="left"|Appears in episodes

|-

|Queen Elizabeth I || Anne-Marie Duff || 1, 2, 3, 4

|-

| Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester || Tom Hardy || 1, 2, 3, 4 <small> (cameo and flashback only)</small>

|-

|Amy, Lady Dudley || Emilia Fox || 2

|-

|Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex || Dexter Fletcher || 1, 2, 3

|-

|Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk || Kevin McKidd || 1, 2

|-

|William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley || Ian Hart || 1, 2, 3, 4

|-

|Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury || Daniel Evans || 3, 4

|-

||Queen Mary I || Joanne Whalley || 1

|-

||Lettice Knollys || Sienna Guillory || 1, 2, 3, 4

|-

||Sir Francis Walsingham || Ben Daniels || 2, 3

|-

|Lord Chancellor Gardiner || Robert Pugh || 1

|-

| Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex || Hans Matheson || 3, 4

|-

|King Philip II of Spain || Stanley Townsend || 1

|-

|Kat Ashley || Tara Fitzgerald || 1, 2, 3, 4<small> (flashback and cameo only)</small>

|-

|Sir James Melville || Ewen Bremner || 2

|-

|Mary, Queen of Scots || Charlotte Winner || 3

|-

|Sir Walter Raleigh || Derek Riddell || 3, 4

|-

|Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire || Sebastian Armesto || 4

|-

| Francis Bacon, Viscount St Albans || Neil Stuke || 4

|-

|Francis, Duke of Anjou || Matthias Girbig || 3

|-

|Jean de Simier || Enzo Cilenti || 3

|-

|Reginald Pole || Michael Feast || 1

|-

|John Brydges || Tony Guilfoyle || 4

|-

|Henry Bedingfeld || Pearce Quigley || 1

|-

|Cecily || Siobhan Hewlett || 4

|-

|Sir Horace Alsop || Karl Theobald || 4

|-

|Dentist || Geoff Bell || 4

|-

|Earl of Southampton || Shaun Evans || 4

|-

|Agnes || Joanna Griffiths || 4

|-

|Thomas Phelippes || Vincent Franklin || 3

|-

|Gilbert Gifford || Stephen Walters || 3

|-

|Christopher Hatton || Jason Watkins || 1, 2, 3

|-

|John Dee || Alan Williams || 1

|-

|Thomas Wyatt the Younger || Bryan Dick || 1

|-

|Little Boy || Jacob Collier (as Jacob Moriarty) || 1

|}

Production credits

  • Producer &ndash; Paul Rutman
  • Director &ndash; Coky Giedroyc
  • Writer &ndash; Paula Milne
  • Composer &ndash; Martin Phipps
  • Director of Photography &ndash; David Odd
  • Production Designer &ndash; Donal Wood
  • Film Editor &ndash; Joe Walker
  • Make Up Supervisor &ndash; Karen Hartley
  • Costume Designer &ndash; Amy Roberts
  • Casting Director &ndash; Nina Gold
  • Executive Producers &ndash; Justin Bode, Laura Mackie, Kate Harwood, Simon Curtis

Filming locations

  • Alnwick Castle (Execution scenes)
  • Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire (Cumnor Place)
  • Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland (Tilbury)
  • Chastleton House (Whitehall Palace interiors and gardens)
  • Chillingham Castle (Fotheringhay Castle)
  • Labyrinthine Keep at Warkworth Castle (Tower of London)
  • London's Middle Temple (Receiving Chamber)
  • Lord Leycester hospital (the Strand)
  • New College, Oxford (Anointment room)
  • Raby Castle (Whitehall Palace)
  • Broughton Castle (Woodstock Manor)

Release

Home media

The Virgin Queen was released on DVD in 2006 by PBS and is also available digitally on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.

The series was also released on DVD in Germany and England. The DVD releases were heavily censored and the 4 episodes were recut to 2 episodes. The 240 minutes (4 hours) of the original TV broadcasts were cut to 200 minutes (3 hours and 20 minutes) in the DVD versions. and iTunes are also ca. 40 minutes shorter, are censored and recut to 2 episodes.

Soundtrack

The original score was composed by Martin Phipps and features vocals by the Mediæval Bæbes and the London Bulgarian Choir. The score won an Ivor Novello Award for "Best Television soundtrack" on 24 May 2007. The lyrics on the track played during the opening sequence were derived from a poem written by Elizabeth I.

Track listing

See also

  • Historical drama film
  • BBC television drama
  • BBC
  • PBS

References

  • C16th makeups: The Virgin Queen