KING CHARLES III
Adapted by Mike Bartlett from his Tony-nominated stage play
BBC Two. 10 May. 89 minutes
Mixed reviews of the acting, horror at the apparition of the well-nigh beatified Diana who subtly caused trouble for everyone, and shock at the practically perfect Kate being portrayed as a bit of a schemer – one did wonder if reviewers of BBC’s King Charles III realised that this was not a documentary.
Perhaps what caught out Joe Public and Joanna Professional-Reviewer (other than the slightly odd Shakespearian-esque writing), were the haunting glimpses of the funeral of Elizabeth II. It did leave one thinking ahead to the worldwide changes there may be – new republics being created where loyalty to the new King may be less felt than that towards the Queen – that will put the hysteria around the death of Diana into a full-stop-sized dot in history. Stability over seven decades was all but overturned within moments of Charles acceding to the throne.
Ten questions with Chris Sugden
Chris Sugden has been married for 52 years to Elaine, a retired consultant cancer doctor, with three married children and …