Elizabeth R
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Elizabeth R is a six-part BBC production about Elizabeth I of England. Picking up where the BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII left off, Elizabeth followed the same format of six 90-minute plays written by different playwrights. It was first broadcast on BBC2 between 17 February - 24 March 1971, and received its first U.S. screening on Masterpiece Theatre in February-March 1972. Glenda Jackson starred as Queen Elizabeth, Robert Hardy played Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Rosalie Crutchley reprised the role of Catherine Parr from the Six Wives series. Roderick Graham was the producer, and there were a total of five directors for the six episodes.
Elizabeth R was also the title of a one-off, two-hour BBC TV documentary filmed during 1991 and first broadcast on the 40th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, February 6, 1992. It follows her on various royal engagements, including a meeting with former US president Ronald Reagan, as well as visiting the royal stables, answering correspondence, and filming her annual christmas speech.
Elizabeth R is by tradition, how Queens Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II sign their names, for example to give Royal assent to a law. It is short for Elizabeth Regina.