The Other Boleyn Girl

In this gripping tale of royal intrigue and bedroom passion, you'll follow the rise and fall of Lady Mary Boleyn, mistress of King Henry VIII before he married her sister, Anne. Who was the winner? Mary, who lost the king's favor but lived to marry for love? Or Anne, who won the throne but lost her life? You'll be swept up in this dramatic story of a power-hungry family and the two daughters it used as pawns. The richly produced BBC production inspired by Philippa Gregory's best-selling historical novel. Filmed on location at Berkeley Castle. As seen on Masterpiece Theatre.

Mary, a lady-in-waiting to Katherine of Aragon, is happily married to Henry VIII's courtier William Carey - until her family forces her to become the King's mistress after catching his eye at Court. Mary is horrified by her predicament, but has no choice but to follow her family's wishes. However, Mary quickly falls in love with the young King and bears him a son. Inevitably though, the King's eyes soon begin to wander and Mary is overlooked, helpless to do anything but aid her family's plot to advance their fortunes. Mary is forced to step aside so that Anne can maneuver herself into becoming Queen. The historical events themselves and the emotional lives of those involved make for an extraordinary tale of love, loss and passion, but at the heart of this film is the relationship between two rivals - the Boleyn sisters.

Inspired by the best-selling novel The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Written and Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe
Script Consultant Andrew Davies
Historical Script Consultant Philippa Gregory
Produced by Ruth Caleb
Executive Produced by David M Thompson, Alex Holmes

"Don't be expecting costume drama cosiness. Instead, the visual style here is closer to art-house cinema - saturated in bright light and featuring restless camera-work that conveys a sense of immediacy ... The performances, developed through improvised workshops, are excellent." - Guardian Guide

"Unmissable ... here is dialogue based on improvisation, dynamic camerawork more often associated with fly-on-thewall documentaries, and a dazzling cast that includes Steven Mackintosh, Philip Glenister and John Woodvine." - The Times

"A bit of a cracker ... it offered persuasive performances and a poetic script from Philippa Gregory - and proved surprisingly compelling. As Anne, Jodhi May shone. On a steeplechase from winsome romantic through ambitious schemer to co-author of her own misfortune, she was fantastic to watch. In the home straight towards decapitation, she was downright delicious. The vaulting ambition and sly viciousness that propelled her towards self-loathing, self-destruction and, eventually, death made Anne's a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. And while she didn't quite put Lady Macbeth in the shade, she did demonstrate what it took for women to get ahead in Tudor times. As Mary, Natascha McElhone was pretty and drippy, though not entirely unappealing.As the moral centre of the piece, she was dutiful, demure and, despite the attentions of an apparently priapic Henry VIII, managed to lead "a peaceful and happy life as a nobody". Her happy-ish ever after fate (if you can call it that when your sister and brother have been beheaded for incest on the orders of your former lover) was suitably satisfying, and poignant in relief against Anne's last dead stare at the camera." - Guardian

"Attempts to dramatise history - to make it trendy, immediate and ‘alive!' - are invariably doomed to failure, as the recent ... proved all too clearly. The Other Boleyn Girl used many of the same techniques - hand-held cameras, characters talking directly to camera - but to vastly better effect. In large part this was because there was no hint of self-consciousness in either the approach or the performances - without exception, these were outstandingly good. Everything in Philippa Lowthorpe's film was done with absolute conviction and surefootedness, with the result inducing in this viewer at least a very intriguing, as well as very plausible sense of being pitched into Henry's court."
- Sunday Telegraph

"An outrageous story that makes the current Royal Family look tame ... The plot became a Hampton Court Maze, possibly even a Maze of Court Hamptons, writhing and twisting through adultery, betrayal and rejection worthy of an average week in a soap opera ... It made a diverting 90 minutes and filled a gap in popular historical knowledge ... This had pedigree, adapted from Philippa Gregory's novel and produced by Ruth Caleb, who has been responsible for some of the most powerful, original recent television drama. A strong cast included Natascha McElhone, Jared Harris, Jodhi May, Steven Mackintosh and Philip Glenister. Urgent quasi-period music gave a Peter Greenaway feel.
Philippa Lowthorpe directed in the naturalistic style of a fly-on-the-farthingale documentary. It even included talks to camera, as if early Tudor palaces had video-booths along with the astrolabes and real tennis courts." - The Times

"Told in a refreshingly unfamiliar way... has plenty of relevance to society today." - Express (TV Picks)

"Hosannas all round then for Philippa Lowthorpe ... In any other hands, the idea of the Boleyn sisters,Anne and Mary, addressing a video camera about their involvement with Henry VIII would be twee, but not here.They stared straight into the camera with boldness and vulnerability mixed. Mary (the convincing Natascha McElhone) wanted four children, and Anne (the equally convincing Jodhi May) wanted to fall in love. It was the peculiar achievement of this work in the next hour-and-a-half to reinvent costume drama not as fancy dress nonsense but as emotional truthtelling." - Daily Telegraph

"McElhone and May handle the Boleyn girls' shifts in status and state of mind superbly, surrounded by a cast of feature film quality, and Lowthorpe innovatively mimics documentary methods, incorporating improvised interviews with the sisters."  - Sunday Times

"A touching, if quirky, portrayal." - Observer

"Arresting."  - Independent (Pick of the Day)

"Enticing... McElhone and May handle the Boleyn girls' shifts in status and state of mind superbly, surrounded by a cast of feature-film quality, and Lowthorpe innovatively mimics documentary methods, incorporating improvised interviews with the sisters."  - Sunday Times