Charles 2 on DVD (2003)

skeadugenga from Reading [Highly rated reviewer] , 14/10/2005

Wouldn't have thought you could have made Charles the Second boring, but this managed it. From the historical b***cks school of drama (see also Henry V111)

  15 out of 25 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Bermondsey, London , 01/02/2006

Charles II is a fantastic BBC series. The characters are all superb, most specially Rufus Sewell. Diana Rigg is also magnificent as Henriette Marie. A special word has to be said about Shirley Henderson who does a fantastic effort with Catherine of Braganza. Her accent when speaking Portuguese is good (I am Portuguese!), and her mannerisms are most convincing. I actually went to research to check if she had any Portuguese ancestry. Sceneries are lavishing. It’s exciting, dramatic, romantic…all! See it!

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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Jamie Gambell from London , 27/04/2005

Historical Fiction being something of a vogue nowdays, this four part series (parts 1-3 on disk one, part four on disk 2) falls somewhere between Blackadder without the laughs and I,Claudius without the ham. It's a fun series which plays well through an oft referred to period of history, and is exceptionally good looking and well acted. Charles (Sewell) may annoy at times, coming across as something of a push over for the ladies, but the Machiavellian machinations of Parliment vs position and the warmth of portrayal in most characters is etremely endearing. A beautiful addition to BBC's impressive mini-series cannon.

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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Illuminatiprimus from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 28/07/2006

My expectations for this series were relatively high given the cast list and the fact that it was BBC (and the recommendation of my friend). I was not disappointed and in fact I was even pleasantly surprised. I agree with another reviewer who said that all the bed hopping gets a bit monotonous, but it was indeed exactly the reflective of the time - the position of King's mistress did exist and very much as portrayed.

My knowledge of this particular part of the 17th century could be better, but every significant event I expected to see was there and the overal tone and the narrative (especially the ongoing fear of a relapse into civil war and a replaying of the same arguments that preceded it) was spot on. The actors were all as great as you would expect (and I agree that Sewell is very yummy in his role) and there was some wonderful dialogue to be enjoyed. Not too sure what the Lady Castlemaine necrophilia bit was supposed to add to the series, however.

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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A customer from helston cwl uk , 10/12/2004

so bored we fell asleep not up to usual bbc stanard

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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Illuminatiprimus from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 28/07/2006

My expectations for this series were relatively high given the cast list and the fact that it was BBC (and the recommendation of my friend). I was not disappointed and in fact I was even pleasantly surprised. I agree with another reviewer who said that all the bed hopping gets a bit monotonous, but it was indeed exactly the reflective of the time - the position of King's mistress did exist and very much as portrayed.

My knowledge of this particular part of the 17th century could be better, but every significant event I expected to see was there and the overal tone and the narrative (especially the ongoing fear of a relapse into civil war and a replaying of the same arguments that preceded it) was spot on. The actors were all as great as you would expect (and I agree that Sewell is very yummy in his role) and there was some wonderful dialogue to be enjoyed. Not too sure what the Lady Castlemaine necrophilia bit was supposed to add to the series, however.

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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