Product Details

• Actors: Anne-Marie Duff, Tara Fitzgerald, Robert Pugh, Dexter Fletcher, Sienna Guillory
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006
• Run Time: 230 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BKDNX0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,094 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

As The Virgin Queen begins, a young Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London by Queen Mary, charged with conspiracy and treason. Both women are daughters of the ruthless and oft-married Henry VIII, who plunged England into turmoil by breaking with the Roman Catholic Church. Mary wants to reunite with Rome, while Elizabeth is determined to stand by her Protestant faith--a potentially fatal choice. But Elizabeth’s life takes an unexpected turn when Mary dies, leaving no heir to the throne. As the new queen, Elizabeth discovers the harsh realities of ruling a religiously divided nation and must learn to outwit her enemies and charm those who conspire to their own ends.

Soon under pressure to secure a politically advantageous marriage, the coquettish Elizabeth rejects a string of eligible royal bachelors from abroad, openly preferring the burning affections of her childhood playmate, the athletic, handsome--and married--Robert Dudley. But is she toying with him as she is with her other suitors?

Starring Anne-Marie Duff (The Aristocrats, The Magdalene Sisters) as the shrewd and captivating queen who defended her throne amidst an atmosphere of plotting and intrigue, torture and murder, The Virgin Queen is a riveting drama that explores the fascinating 44-year reign of Elizabeth I.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

108 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elizabethan drama, literally, November 20, 2005

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FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen (DVD)

This is a very interesting programme, produced in Britain and originally shown on the PBS series, Masterpiece Theatre.

This miniseries was directed by Coky Giedroyc, a veteran of television productions in Britain, including another royal-themed miniseries, 'William and Mary', in 2003. Giedroyc brings an interesting modern twist to the series - rather than filming things in majestic, sweeping camera pans with classical music as a background, and rather than having the dialogue (and acting) be in a stilted, falsely formal style, Giedroyc incorporates modern music with medieval and Celtic flavouring to it (both of which have experienced a renaissance of sorts in the past decade), and the situations are decidedly modern without being out of place in their own times.

This presents the life of Elizabeth from her young adulthood under Queen Mary, as a supposed participant in intrigues against the Catholic Queen, through to her death after serving decades on the throne of England as the Virgin Queen, the queen who never married. In fact, the miniseries plays a tantalising game with Elizabeth's virginity, showing her desires (as well as those around her) without ever giving up the game of 'was she or wasn't she?' Anne-Marie Duff plays the part of Elizabeth, and does a remarkably able job for such a complex figure. Duff won the Irish Television award and was nominated for the BAFTA award for best actress in a television drama in another series, 'Shameless', last year.

Duff is joined by Tom Hardy, who plays the role of Robert Dudley, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth. Dudley is also an extraordinarily complex role, as he played several sides in the political struggles during Elizabeth's early reign, and was part of a family well experienced in regal intrigue - Robert Dudley's family had tried to manage the reign of Elizabeth's brother Edward, engineer the accession of Lady Jane Grey (placing Guildford Dudley on the throne with her), and is sometimes referred to as 'the uncrowned kings of England'. In fact, perhaps the most stunning single scene in this miniseries is after Elizabeth has elevated Robert Dudley to the earldom of Leicester, and during her illness, he sits upon the throne as the protector of the realm. Hardy is well suited to this role, and plays it with skill.

The sets are appropriate to their time period, neither too ornate nor too medieval; the costumes also have a touch of modernity to them, but are still primarily of the period. The situations presented give good insight into the overall pattern of Elizabeth's reign and some of the principal concerns during that time period, although to compress such a long reign into such a short time frame as a four-hour miniseries by necessity means that the history has had to be selectively chosen. Elizabeth faced problems from without and within, many of which were far more complex and pressing than her marriage issue. In the end, Elizabeth made the right decision for the time, if not for the future.

This is a great production for television, and holds up well against other major productions featuring the Virgin Queen Elizabeth of a few years ago.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but flawed, June 9, 2006

By 

C. Goette "Book Geek" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen (DVD)

This production has a lot going for it. Anne-Marie Duff makes a great Elizabeth, and she is supported by an equally talented cast. The sets, lighting, costuming and direction are good, and the makeup artists did a terrific job of aging Duff as the movie progressed. I occasionally found the music too much; it sometimes seemed loud and overwhelmed the action, but overall I enjoyed it.

The catch is that the concept of the movie works better in theory than it does in practice. The Virgin Queen, as the title indicates, focuses on Elizabeth's personal relationships, most specifically her love interests. To an extent, limiting the program makes sense; Elizabeth was about 69 at her death, and ascended to the throne at 25. However, over all, Elizabeth's relationships were unusually embarrassing and sad, and to focus on them to the near-exclusion of the other events in her life leaves us with little more than a gossipy, costumed soap opera. While the events depicted are factual--except where artistic license is used to explain murky aspects--Elizabeth often comes of as a bit trite, and the real queen, for all of her capriciousness, was anything but trite. She saw her kingdom through massive changes, left it stronger than she found it, and was so influential that her reign is still considered a golden age.

There are some genuinely touching moments, and the production is of good quality. This is a worthwhile purchase, so long as you understand that the focus is very limited.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful film with wide appeal, December 1, 2005

By 

Emily Meri Nitta Kugler (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Masterpiece Theatre: Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen (DVD)

Overall, I thought this is one of the better Elizabeth films. True, its no "Elizabeth R" but that mini-series was able to do so much more because of its length. Duff really looks like Elizabeth and I liked that they did play off of the queen's vanity and insecurities about her body. I teach British Literature to undergraduates and I'm hoping this film will help give them a little more understanding of the era. Yes, its been modernized. Yes, its portrayal of Amy Robsart's death irked me. Yes, "Elizabeth R" is better. But in a classroom with students who maybe saw the Cate Blancett film, I think it will be useful.

Just as a film, it is beautiful, well acted and engaging. The sound track is particularly effective.