The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)

The decade's history boom starts here. Six feature-length plays, each by a different writer and each devoted to one queen, so the tone shifts from political chess to marital tragedy as you go. Keith Michell ages from eager young king to bloated tyrant across the run, and the performance won him the 1971 BAFTA for best actor; Annette Crosbie won best actress as Catherine of Aragon. It is very much a studio production, with talk carrying almost every scene. Treat each episode as a stand-alone play and it is easy to dip into one queen at a time.