Elizabeth R is a BBC television drama serial of six 90-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the ABC in Australia and broadcast in the United States on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. The series has been repeated several times, most recently from 15 March 2023, by BBC Four.^[1]

Elizabeth R was filmed at a variety of locations including Penshurst Place which doubled as the queen's castle grounds and Chiddingstone in Kent, though all the interiors were recorded at the BBC Television Centre.^[2]

The first episode was broadcast on 17 February 1971, beginning on screen with the year 1549 as the setting, with the then Princess Elizabeth's difficult ascent to the throne of England nine years later.^[3] The final episode was shown on 24 March 1971, the 368th anniversary of the Queen's death on March 24, 1603. It was repeated almost immediately in response to audience demand.^[1][4]

The series followed the successful Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), with several performers reprising their roles in Elizabeth R (all in the first episode) from the earlier series, notably John Ronane as Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, Bernard Hepton as Cranmer, Basil Dignam as Bishop Gardiner and Rosalie Crutchley as Catherine Parr.^[5]

In February 1972, Elizabeth R first aired in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre, then hosted by Alistair Cooke on PBS.^[6] In the summer of 1972, it was rebroadcast with commercials on the New York City independent station WOR-TV Channel 9.

Glenda Jackson's performance in the title role won her two Emmy Awards—for Best Actress in a Drama Series and Best Actress in a Movie/TV Special (for the episode "Shadow in the Sun").^[7][8] The series itself won the Emmy for the Best Dramatic Series in 1972 (the first British TV series ever to win the American TV award, before Upstairs, Downstairs carried the award two years later). At around the same time, Jackson also played the part of Elizabeth in the film Mary, Queen of Scots (1971).^[9]

Costume designer Elizabeth Waller won an Emmy for her designs;^[10] she recreated many of the historical Elizabeth's actual gowns, adapting them from a number of the Queen's official portraits. They later went on display at Hampton Court Palace.^[11]

Elizabeth R featured many well-known British actors, including Malcolm McFee, Michael Williams, Margaretta Scott, John Woodvine, James Laurenson, Angela Thorne, Brian Wilde, Robin Ellis, Robert Hardy and Peter Egan.^[12]

The series was parodied in Monty Python's Flying Circus in an absurdist sketch where a Japanese film director, disguised unconvincingly as Luchino Visconti, forces his cast to perform as Queen Elizabeth's court while sitting on motor-scooters and speaking Engrish. Therefore, the title was changed to "Erizabeth L".

Elizabeth R was first released for DVD Region 1 during 2001 by BBC Warner and then re-released by BBC Worldwide in 2011. In DVD Region 2, it was issued by 2 Entertain in 2006.

Note: This list is incomplete.