''Anne Boleyn'' is a British three-part psychological thriller miniseries developed for Channel 5 starring

Jodie Turner-Smith Jodie Turner-Smith (born 7 September 1986) is a British actress and model. She made her feature film debut in ''The Neon Demon'' (2016) and has since acted in ''Queen & Slim'' (2019), '' After Yang'' (2022), and ''White Noise'' (2022). She's als ...

in the titular role. It was written by Eve Hedderwick Turner and directed by Lynsey Miller with historian Dan Jones as executive producer.

Premise

The series is set in Anne's final five months prior to her execution by beheading for treason in 1536.

Cast

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

Mark Stanley Mark Robert Speight, known professionally as Mark Stanley, is an English actor. He portrayed Grenn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. He is also known for his roles in the films ''Kajaki'' and '' Our Kind of Traitor'', and the series ''Dick ...

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

* Paapa Essiedu as

George Boleyn George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 17 May 1536) was an English courtier and nobleman who played a prominent role in the politics of the early 1530s. He was the brother of Anne Boleyn, from 1533 the second wife of King He ...

* Barry Ward as

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

Amanda Burton Irene Amanda Burton is a Northern Irish actress. Her notable credits include Heather Haversham in the Channel 4 soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1986), Beth Glover in the ITV drama series ''Peak Practice'' (1993–1995), Sam Ryan in the BB ...

as Anne Shelton * Lola Petticrew as

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

* Thalissa Teixeira as

Madge Shelton Margaret Shelton (likely died before 1555) was the sister of Mary Shelton, and was once thought to be a mistress of Henry VIII of England. Family Both Margaret and Mary were daughters of Sir John Shelton and his wife Anne, the sister of Thomas Bol ...

* Isabella Laughland as Elizabeth Browne *

Anna Brewster Anna Brewster is an English actress and model. Early life Anna Brewster is from Moseley, Birmingham. She attended St Bernard's RC School, Kings Heath Junior School and Queensbridge School in Moseley before studying for her A levels at Solih ...

Jane Boleyn Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (''née'' Jane Parker; c. 1505 – 13 February 1542), was an English noblewoman. Her husband, George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, was the brother of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. Jane had been ...

* Kris Hitchen as the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...

Turlough Convery Turlough Convery (born 18 March 1991) is a Northern Irish actor. He is best known for his television roles in series 3 of the BBC America series ''Killing Eve'' and in the ITV series ''Sanditon''. He has appeared in films such as ''Ready Player O ...

as Henry Norris *

Jamael Westman Jamael Anwar Hermitt-Westman (born December 1991) is a British actor. He is best known for starring as the titular role in the West End production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical ''Hamilton (musical), Hamilton'', which earned him a Laurence Oli ...

as Edward Seymour * Phoenix Di Sebastiani as

Eustace Chapuys Eustace Chapuys (; c. 1490/92 – 21 January 1556), the son of Louis Chapuys and Guigonne Dupuys, was a Savoyard diplomat who served Charles V as Imperial ambassador to England from 1529 until 1545 and is best known for his extensive and detaile ...

* Aoife Hinds as Princess Mary * James Harkness as

William Kingston Sir William Kingston, KG ( – 14 September 1540) was an English courtier, soldier and administrator. He was the Constable of the Tower of London during much of the reign of Henry VIII. Among the notable prisoners he was responsible for wer ...

Abhin Galeya Abhin Shah or Abhin Galeya is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as PC Arun Ghir in the ITV series ''The Bill'' from 2008 to 2009 and Ash in the 2012 film '' Cleanskin''. Early life and education Galeya grew up in Edgware. He tra ...

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

Episodes

Production

Development

Ben Frow Channel 5 is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel launched in 1997. It is the fifth national terrestrial channel in the United Kingdom and is owned by Channel 5 Broadcast ...

of Channel 5 first mentioned the project at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in summer 2020. The three-part "convention-defying" series from Fable Pictures was officially announced in October 2020, with Eve Hedderwick Turner as writer and Lynsey Miller as director. Faye Ward and Hannah Farrell of Fable produced and historian Dan Jones executive produced. The series "sets out to examine Anne Boleyn's life through a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

lens as she struggles to conceive a boy heir and pushback against the

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

she was born into."

Casting

In October 2020, it was announced with the series that

would star as

with Paapa Essiedu,

, Thalissa Teixeira, Barry Ward, and

also set to feature.

joined the cast as

in November.

Filming

Principal photography took place in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

over six weeks, finishing in December 2020. Filming locations included

Castle Howard Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, within the civil parish of Henderskelfe, located north of York. It is a private residence and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

Bolton Castle Bolton Castle is a 14th-century castle located in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England (). The nearby village of Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle was da ...

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King Henry ...

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is ...

Oakwell Hall Oakwell Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in Birstall, West Yorkshire, England. The Grade I listed hall is set in period gardens surrounded by of country park. The house was built for John Batt. A recarved stone dated 1583 probably indicate ...

in Birstall, St Michael's Church in Emley,

Harewood House Harewood House ( , ) is a country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built, between 1759 and 1771, for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy West Indian plantation a ...

in Harewood, and

Ripley Castle Ripley Castle is a Grade I listed 14th-century country house in Ripley, North Yorkshire, England, north of Harrogate. The house is built of coursed squared gritstone and ashlar with grey slate and stone slate roofs. A central two-storey block ...

in Ripley.

Release

The first episode premiered in the UK on Channel 5 on 1 June 2021.

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...

co-financed the project with Channel 5 and distributed the series internationally. The drama was released in the United States on

AMC+ AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

and on Crave in Canada.

Reception

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an approval rating of 53% based on 17 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though the show around her isn't quite up to snuff, there's no denying the pleasure of Jodie Turner-Smith's powerful turn as the one-and-only Anne Boleyn." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' both gave the drama 3 stars out 5.

Lucy Mangan Lucy Katherine Mangan''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian''. A major part of her writing is related t ...

of the former said the series "works" but criticised its "silly surplus of metaphors" and portrayal of Henry. Adam White of the latter found the show a "soapy romp" but that it made sense for the story being told. Turner-Smith's performance was widely praised. Beth Webb of ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' called the series a "showcase of Jodie Turner-Smith's resilience as a performer" and mentioned how the "small but well-assembled supporting cast elevates her performance". There was some criticism of the

color-blind casting Color-blind casting, also referred to as non-traditional casting, integrated casting, or blind casting is the practice of casting without considering the actor's ethnicity, skin color, body shape, sex or gender. A representative of the Actors' ...

, as some of the actors were

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and the characters portrayed were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, such as Boleyn herself. The ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' described this as "identity-conscious casting" and quoted the actor

: "It was all about this being the right person for the job, rather than what we as a society might perceive as the ‘right look’ for the job".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anne Boleyn (Tv Series) 2021 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 2020s British drama television series 2020s British television miniseries British fantasy television series Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Cultural depictions of Anne Boleyn English-language television shows