Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII has imperfections sure, with the Catherine of Aragon episode having some very overdone make-up and uninspired and less-than-lavish sets, in fact in the first two episodes they were rather plain, and Anne Boleyn's feeling at times rushed(Anne and Henry's romantic courtship could have come out more, disappointing after seeing it done so wittily in Anne of the Thousand Days). Even with these flaws though The Six Wives of Henry VIII is outstanding and something of a flawed masterpiece, the writing and acting being some of the best of any historical-based drama series I've seen.While the series has some problems technically, actually it does not look bad generally at all considering the budget constraints. From the Jane Seymour episodes and onwards the sets and locations show more detail, I actually liked the shadowy quality that the lighting had and the photography is unobtrusive while not being staid. But visually it was the costumes that fared the best, a lot of effort went into them and it shows as they do look wonderful. The script is, to sum it up in a word, superb, very like scripts from a play, with dialogue that is truly literate and not soap-opera-ish in the slightest and treats the subject with subtlety(which is more than can be said for Henry VIII with Ray Winstone- most of the dialogue in that had the subtlety of an axe) and The Other Boleyn Girl). Not once did the dramatisation feel one-sided, Henry is actually a quite complex character here.The Six Wives of Henry VIII respects history, it is by far the most historically accurate account of the subject matter without being too scholarly/history textbook-like, and although it's paced very deliberately it's still always entertaining, loved the wit that the Anne of Cleves episode had, the romantic elements are sweet, the political elements are suspenseful and it's always educational. Having the Anne Boleyn episode primarily focused on the build up to her final days and execution came across very well, and The Six Wives is the most successful of all the Henry VIII accounts on film and television to show what made Henry and his Six Wives so famous and in detail too. The Six Wives of Henry VIII is beautifully directed throughout, the dances were simple but elegant and what there is of music(due to the style of the dialogue there did not need to be much) is charming and appropriately used.And as has been said early on in the review the acting along with the writing some of the best of any historical dramatisation and possibly the best thing about The Six Wives of Henry VIII. There is a splendid support cast, with standout performers from Bernard Hepton, Sheila Burrell as Lady Rochford and a scarily cold Patrick Troughton as Norfolk. Wolfe Morris is not quite as devious as Donald Pleasance in the 1972 film(too short and very compressed but very well written and acted) but he still acquits himself very well, and Anthony Quayle is a fine narrator. The six wives are all very well portrayed, Annette Crosbie is a splendidly dignified Catherine of Aragon and while not erasing memories of Genevieve Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days Dorothy Tutin is a haunting, witty and sometimes ruthless Anne Boleyn. Anne Stallybrass's Jane Seymour is very affecting and Elvi Hale gives easily the most interesting Anne of Cleves of any dramatisation of Henry VIII(that's saying a lot as Anne is nearly always wasted) and his Six Wives, charming and very funny. Angela Pleasance is thankfully neither blandly over-innocent or nymphomaniac-like and Rosalie Crutchley gives along with Crosbie the most sympathetically played performance of all six wives as Katherine Parr. Topping them all is Keith Michell, who is amazing as Henry, he can be hilarious but Michell does amazingly at capturing Henry's tormented pain in his later years and tyranny as well with neither component over-balancing the other, a multi-faceted and nuanced portrayal that makes you feel scared of(like in the Catherine Howard episode) and sympathetic(the Jane Seymour episode sees him at his most likable) towards Henry.Overall, a flawed masterpiece of a series, has short-comings technically but the writing and acting are nigh-on perfect pretty much. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I highly enjoyed this series. I watched it when it first aired in 1971. I later bought it on VHS. I'd now like to get it on DVD. I have watched this series countless times and never grow tired of it. Keith Michel is excellent as Henry VIII and having read the book by Allison Weir, Keith seems to portray Henry fairly accurately. I thought all of the actors/actresses did quite well. The woman who played Catherine Howard seemed to overact just a bit, but she still did a fine job. The series makes you feel as though you're right there in that time period. It almost makes me wish I could have been there, except for the fact that life for the royals wasn't as glamorous or even safe. You could feel the tension and fear in all of Henry's wives as they risked their very lives to be the wife of a tyrannical king. Henry didn't start out that way, but soon after his father had died, Henry had great aspirations about being the new king. He wanted to make England powerful and prosperous again. That meant fighting wars and slaughtering enemies. It was only a while later, after Catherine had failed to produce a living son, that Henry realized how important a legitimate living male heir would be to him and he was willing to risk others to get what he wanted.

This was one of the most amazing pieces of television/theater. I was 17 when I watched it for the first time and about 10 years ago, acquired the miniseries on VHS. Just recently I was given the DVD set as a gift. I've been re-watching it and I marvel at just how amazing the production and the performances were. At the time Keith Michell played Henry, the actor was in his early 40's yet managed to portray the monarch from age 18 till his death at 56. Simply remarkable and I think Michell is the consummate Henry VIII. As the previous poster, my favorite episodes were Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard; I didn't know Ms. Pleasence was Donald Pleasance's daughter. I also enjoyed Annette Crosbie's performance; she also portrayed Queen Victoria in the miniseries about Edward VII. All in all, this is one of the finest miniseries ever done on television and I doubt we'll see its equal anytime soon.

A television classic. Among the very best TV has offered. The writing, performances, costumes, music -- all marvelous!