It’s always good to see historical programmes on Sky Showcase, and they did very well to get Joseph Fiennes to be one of the narrators for this one. Could we just lose the constant swearing, though? It’s very tiresome. Having said which, Charles II probably *did* swear a lot, if only to prove that he wasn’t a Puritan!
The theme of this series is the quest to hunt down the regicides, i.e. the people involved in the trial and execution of Charles I, who were excluded from the general pardon given at the time of the Restoration. Those already dead, including Oliver Cromwell, were dug up and executed posthumously. Several others were executed, and others were sentenced to life imprisonment. Some were pardoned, and a few escaped.
It’s not talked about very much, possibly because it doesn’t fit with Charles II’s image as “the Merry Monarch” – lover of many women, father of many illegitimate children, frequent visitor to the theatre and to Newmarket, etc etc. The fact that he was engaged in secret deals with the French gets overlooked, as well. I suppose we’re all willing to forgive him anything because the Restoration got rid of the horrendous rule of the Cromwells. Why Oliver Cromwell so often scores so highly in “greatest ever Englishmen” polls is beyond me. The man banned Sunday football. And mince pies. And closed the theatres. He also fined people for swearing, so everyone involved in historical programmes on Sky TV would have been very poor if they’d been around in his time. No wonder that Charles II’s reign is fondly remembered!
But Charles really did go after the regicides, which I suppose is understandable, and this was an interesting take on things. It also showed the future James II doing a lot of moaning at his brother, and getting very narky about the influence of the infamous Barbara Villiers. The reign of Charles, like the reign of his grandfather, tends to be overlooked, sandwiched in between the Civil War/Interregnum and the Glorious Revolution. Despite the fact that half the aristocratic families in the country are descended from his various offspring by his various mistresses!
This went a a bit OTT for a docu-drama, but it was always entertaining – and, unlike the irritating stuff that the BBC churn out these days, made no references to current political events and didn’t include a load of woke drivel. It was certainly colourful! But I do think that it was a bit hard on Charles. It made him look very bloodthirsty, whereas his actions were really quite mild under the circumstances. Sky’s history programmes often seem designed more to shock than to do anything else. But, hey, at least they don’t lecture you like the BBC’s do …
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