Below is a list of my favorite television productions (so far) that are set in the 1500s:
TOP FAVORITE TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS SET DURING THE 1500s
1. "Elizabeth R" (1971) - Emmy winner Glenda Jackson starred in this award winning six-part miniseries about the life of Queen Elizabeth I. The miniseries was produced by Rodney Graham.
2. "The Tudors" (2007-2010) - Michael Hirst created this Showtime series about the reign of King Henry VIII. The series starred Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Henry Cavill.
3. "Elizabeth I" (2005) - Emmy winner Helen Mirren starred in this two-part miniseries about the last 24 years of Queen Elizabeth I's life. Directed by Tom Hooper, the miniseries co-starred Jeremy Irons and Hugh Dancy.
4. "Wolf Hall" - Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and Claire Foy starred in this television adaptation of Hilary Mantel's 2009 novel of the same title and her 2012 novel "Bring Up the Bodies" about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of King Henry VIII. Peter Kominsky directed.
5. "Gunpowder, Treason & Plot" (2004) - Jimmy McGovern wrote this two-part miniseries about Scotland's Queen Mary and her son King James VI, along with the Gunpowder Plot. Directed by Gillies MacKinnon, the miniseries starred Clémence Poésy, Kevin McKidd and Robert Carlyle.
6. "The Borgias" (2011-2013) - Neil Jordan created this series for Showtime about Pope Alexander VI and his family, the Borgias, around the turn of the 16th century. The series starred Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud and Holliday Grainger.
7. "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (1970) - Keith Michell starred as King Henry VIII in this six-part miniseries about the monarch's relationship with each of his six wives.
8. "The Virgin Queen" (2009) - Paula Milne wrote this four-part miniseries about . . . of course, Queen Elizabeth I. Anne-Marie Duff and Tom Hardy starred.
9. "The Other Boleyn Girl" (2003) - Philippa Lowthorpe directed this adaptation of Philippa Gregory's 2001 novel about Elizabeth I's aunt, Mary Boleyn. Natascha McElhone, Jodhi May, Steven Mackintosh and Jared Harris starred.