The Last Days of Anne Boleyn

(BBC 2, 2013)

On 19 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of adultery, incest, and conspiring King Henry VIII’s death. But what happened in those last days before her death? Why did Anne, and the five men accused with her, have to die?

This in-depth drama-documentary on BBC 2 explores the continuing controversy among historians. Rather wonderfully, rather than giving a single linear account, it recreates the historical debate that rages on. It makes for history at its most contentious and exciting.

It features seven historians and historical novelists: Dame Hilary Mantel, Dr David Starkey, Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir, Prof. George Bernard, Prof. Greg Walker, and Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb.

For anyone interested in Tudor history and in the extraordinary character of Anne Boleyn, this is unmissable.

It was long listed for the Grierson Historical Documentary of the Year 2014.

‘did a wonderful job of opening up the story and the debate, thanks to a brilliantly lively line-up of writers and historians, from the typically forthright David Starkey, to the fascinating and lucid Suzannah Lipscomb, by way of incredibly well-informed double-Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, and others’

The Daily Telegraph

‘Lipscomb isn’t just a 16th-century expert, she even looks like a Tudor…. it’s fabulous and clever’

Guardian