9 thoughts on “The Shadow of the Tower: Power in the Land

  1. The most amazing this about this miniseries (to me) is the fact that the actor playing Henry VII is American. Also, I’m delighted to find someone else besides me who’s seen it!

    1. He’s American by birth, but I think he spent most of his career/life in England, if the Wikipedia bio is anything to go by. He’s fabulous as Henry VII!

  2. I actually love this series as well, since I love Henry VII. I was amazed when I found that not only was a series about him filmed, but he wasn’t the bad guy! (Since he beat Richard III at Bosworth and Richard now has so many devoted followers, Henry tends to considered awful by popular fiction writers).

    One sniggly little detail – that is Henry Percy, the EARL, not the Duke of Northumberland.

    1. D’oh! Good catch on the Earl/Duke mix up. I have a hard time remembering when that title switched from earl to duke.

  3. Does the Earl of Lincoln wear Lincoln green tights? ;)

    A lot of historical thought for a long time, much of it expressed in historical fiction but not all, was that Margaret Beaufort completely dominated Elizabeth of York. Some of it as a positive and the 2 women got along, but a lot of it negative. A terrible lot. And there’s always been a question of how willing Elizabeth was to marry Henry, anyway.

    Henry VII has gotten a lot of negative publicity as well, seen as a tightfisted little man. Which he could be, especially demanding a lot on taxes and fond of levying fees as punishment. See Morton’s Fork. He definitely doesn’t show up well tucked between the generous Plantagents (Philippa Gregory had that one right, I think) and the wild, florid life of Henry VIII. But he did bring the country around to peace and prosperity, tried to forge solid alliances abroad, all that sort of thing. Which is what usually goes unappreciated.

    James Maxwell seems physically like a good choice for Henry.

  4. I kinda love the fact that the badass looking actress who played Margaret Beaufort (who was actually regent of England at one point) has the amazing name of ‘Marigold Sharman…. it sounds like the name of some nasty, plotsome girl from Slytherin.

  5. I started watching this series a few months ago and while it’s not Elizabeth R, I’ve still been enjoying it. Other than the hair I thought the costumes were pretty great if you forget what the put on Elizabeth of York

  6. I kinda enjoyed this series. (it was on youtube a while back, but don’t tell the BBC). Not as great as Elizabeth R but more cohesive than Six Wives, which I’ve always thought is very over the top and disjointed (although i do love the anne of cleves/holbein fanfic of it!). James Maxwell does pull the whole thing together. He is striking, charming and downright conniving. Elizabeth of York i think doesn’t have much to do, she is a bit of an afterthought, but her last episode with her own and Arthur’s death has more strength.

  7. Never ever stop these! They are so funny and thoughtful! And I agree that I love James Maxwell as Henry VII ^^ Elizabeth may grow on you eventually lol

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