Henry and Anne: 

The Lovers Who Changed History

(Channel 5, 2014)

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s relationship is a fiercely debated subject. Historians are divided about why and when the couple formed and, above all, why their relationship fell apart so spectacularly and with such fatal consequences.

For this docudrama series, starring Emma Connell as Anne Boleyn and Jack Hawkins as Henry VIII, Suzannah travels in the footsteps of the couple – from Hever Castle in Kent to Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire, from the Château Royal de Blois to Hampton Court Palace. She looks carefully at the surviving manuscripts and sources, the most touching of which are Henry’s love letters to Anne, and two Books of Hours owned by Anne herself. These give an amazing insight into a 500-year-old relationship.

She presents her view of Henry and Anne, as a partnership based on mutual respect and attraction, and driven apart by the most terrible of misunderstandings.

The programme was chosen as a Pick of the Day or TV Highlight on 15-16 February 2014 by: Radio Times, The Sunday Telegraph (Seven), The Observer (The New Review), The Mail on Sunday (Event), The Sunday Times (Culture), The Guardian (The Guide), The Times (Saturday Review), Daily Express (Saturday Magazine), The Sun (TV Magazine), The Daily Telegraph (Review), and The Daily Mail (Weekend).

‘Lipscomb… gets right to the heart of her subjects and their seven-year courtship through shared personal possessions and scraps of impassioned writing’

Daily Telegraph

Henry and Anne: The Lovers Who Changed History was covered by the Express here

Credits

Executive Producer: Bill Locke

Made by Lion TV for Channel 5

Other television shows with Suzannah Lipscomb