To Kill A King (2003)

-
Of all the Civil War related films and TV series that I have watched, this is without doubt the best of the lot, and that is despite the fact that there are very few battles taking place on screen.



At the root of the film is the relationship between Oliver Cromwell (Tim Roth) and Thomas Fairfax (Dougray Scott); and of course how they deal with Charles (Rupert Everett).

The film was beset with financial woes, and it is surprising that the film was finished at all, let alone released. It's original title was Cromwell and Fairfax, but it seems they couldn't even afford that. Later editions of the DVD use the title "To Kill A King: Cromwell and Fairfax".

Moody and evocative, this really is a very good film.


If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider supporting the blog. 
Thanks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Houses of Interest: Rutland

-
Image
It is only right and proper that the ECW travelogue turns it's attention to England's smallest County, and the home of 'England's smallest man', Captain Jeffrey Hudson. Purposefully, slightly wonky picture so I know who keeps nicking my pictures and not crediting me Jeffrey was variously known as the 'Queen's Dwarf', or 'Lord Minimus'; he was gifted, at age 7 to Queen Henrietta Maria via the medium of a large pie, from whence he leapt, dressed in full cuirassier armour, at a banquet at Burley-on-the-Hill.  Jeffrey's life was the stuff of a blockbuster movie script. Unfortunately much of what we do know about his life has been clouded by Sir Walter Scott's embellishments (bloody Victorians!). If anyone's life story did not need embellishing, it is Jeffrey's. He killed a man and was exiled to France; was kidnapped by Barbary pirates; enslaved in North Africa; and, imprisoned on his return to England in the 1670s for being a Catholic...
Read more

The Crown Jewels

-
Image
Readers familiar with Radio 4's Front Row will be wondering if KeepYourPowderDry is muscling in on Samira Ahmed's post-Archers slot on the nation's airwaves. Fear not. But this is a first for KeepYourPowderDry...a theatrical review. A trip down to that there London saw KeepYourPowderDry visit the Garrick Theatre, for the self styled 'riotous new comedy' set around Captain Blood's attempt to steal the crown jewels. Written by Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly), and directed by Sean Foley (Upstart Crow); the Crown Jewels stars Al Murray as King Charles II. He’s joined by a star-studded cast: Carrie Hope Fletcher, Mel Giedroyc, Neil Morrissey, Joe Thomas, Aidan McArdle, and Tanvi Virmani. Not Al Murray Based upon the somewhat incredulous story of Captain Blood's attempted theft of the crown jewels, the script allows the cast enough leeway to exploit their talents as stand up comedians. (I'm trying really hard not to give any spoilers here, can you tell?)  At ti...
Read more

Peter Pig Character Packs

-
Image
Today's post takes a look at the latest expansion to the Peter Pig ECW range. One of the more regular requests, on the PP/RfCM forum, has been for ECW personalities - and they are finally here. Fourteen personalities, the first wave of eight are featured here. Each figure is packaged with a cornet, of which there are three different poses. The website states that each cornet pose has variants, and I have noticed the same pose with a floppy hat and also with a helmet. Each pack of two, one piece mounted figures currently retails for £3, so £1.50 a figure. Shame that Rupert didn't come with a dog. Expensive, but nowhere near the £2.40 a figure that Warlord charges for their resin character figures. l-r: Cromwell, Fairfax, Ireton, Essex I totally understand why character figures are more expensive than rank and file, you may buy hundreds of the rank and file figure, but you are probably only likely to buy one character figure. Figure manufacturers will take a lot longer to recoup ...
Read more

Comments

-
Image
Sorry regular readers, comments and the contact form have temporarily been turned off. Why? A YouTube 'content creator' has put a direct link in his description to my post about Newark Upon Trent.  Why has he done that? Because I posted a picture of an information panel from Newark Castle, which features an image of a man of African descent. An information panel that I did not write or have any hand in creating. The man pictured is an actor, portraying a man called John Americanus, who fought for the King at Newark. John's role in the defence of Newark is well documented. And yes, John was of African descent. The National Civil War Centre created a Civil War Trail around the town, information panels are located at points of interest. These panels feature QR codes which accessed features on a now defunct smartphone app. Each location also featured an eye witness account - stories from real people who witnessed the events in Newark. Each information panel has a photographic r...
Read more

Celtic Command

-
Image
The current rash of 'new senior officers' continue. When will it stop? Pretty soon I'd imagine (the box of shiny things is now empty). So here is a senior officer apiece for the The Solemn League, Montrose, and The Catholic Confederacy. These are PP figures from their 'personalities section, who have been repurposed. As with previous figures from the PP personality section, major surgery was required to remove the vast majority of their bases. First up is  John Lindsay, Earl of Crawford-Lindsay , who is the Hasselrigg figure from the range in case you are wondering. John is resplendent in full cuirassier armour. John, born around 1598, was the eldest son of Robert, 9th Lord Lindsay,  and Lady Christian Hamilton. On his father's death in1616, he became the 10th Lord Lindsay of the Byres. 1633, he was elevated to  Earl of Lindsay. He also inherited the Earldom of Crawford following his cousin, Ludoivic, forfeiting the title in November 1652. He was appointed Treasurer...
Read more

Baggage

-
Image
Bit of a buy one, get two more free post today, kickstarting a new year. Regular readers (hello all twenty of you) familiar with my Cannons for The Catholic Confederacy post will know a little about the state of Ireland's C17th roads. (TL;DR they were a bit pants). As a result of the rubbish roads, it is sort of inevitable that the Irish baggage train would be light carts and pack horses. But, as we know that they did haul demi-culverin around they would have been able to move heavier carts around too. So here's my fledgling Irish baggage train: a heavy cart from Museum Minatures. Additional drum from Peter Pig, a Peter Pig dragoon horseholder (with a headswap) as a drover, a SteelFist drummer rounding the base off. I will be adding some light carts to my two Scottish armies and my Irish army at some point. With Magister Militum shutting up shop, I have managed to pick up the last three packs of pack horses in stock, and some Scots horseholders; hopefully, a buyer will be found...
Read more

Houses of Interest: Berkshire

-
Image
 The #ECWtravelogue finally turns its attention to the County of Berkshire. Although that isn't strictly true, having visited the County before to visit the battlefields of Newbury 1 and 2, Donnington Castle, and the rather excellent West Berkshire Museum. You can find the entry here . The Natwest Bank in Maidenhead stands on the site of  The Greyhound Inn , where King Charles met three of his children in July 1647. Littlecote Littlecote House , Hungerford, has appeared in KeepYourPowderDry entries many times before: famous for having the best preserved, intact Civil War armoury in the country. The collection was put up for sale, and thankfully purchased by the Royal Armouries. Unfortunately a small handful of items from the collection made their way onto eBay before the Royal Armouries were able to secure the sale. The House itself is now a resort style hotel, open to residents only I'm afraid. The general public can visit the grounds to explore the Roman Villa on the site. T...
Read more

Good Day for a Hanging

-
Image
Well, obviously, it is never a good day for a hanging, but how else was I to title a post about C17th capital punishment other than to utilise the title of the 1959 American B Western film? Or movie, as our continental cousins would have it. In the C17th if you had been really bad* you were condemned to death. If you were rich you had your head chopped off; if you weren't rich or noble, then it was an appointment with the gallows. Gentle reminder, despite what Hollywood insists, witches were hung - they were not burnt at the stake. My victim has green breeches ties at his knees, a not so secret sign that he supported the Levellers. Was he involved in one of the many Leveller led revolts of the Army Newly Modelled? Was that what led him to his appointment with the gallows, a victim of military justice? Hallmark Miniatures make a man in C17th dress hanging from a gallows,  something that I have kept adding to my basket and then removing every time I'd been placing an order at Ma...
Read more

London, Addenda: Updates

-
Image
A trip to that there London saw the ECWtravelogue revisit a few entries that have already appeared in the numerous London entries. Hampton Court Palace appears very briefly in the ECWtravelogue, with just a mention of the Toy Inn plaque at the entrance to the Palace.  A word of warning, Hampton Court is ridiculously expensive. Prices in the ticket office have an added voluntary donation (the small print says that you don't have to pay this if you don't want to, I'm sure that the vast majority of foreign tourists fall for this ruse). I would also recommend taking your own food and drink with you, to eat in the grounds. The cafes are best avoided unless you have just had a big lottery win (£12 for a pie! Just a pie, no sides, just the pie. Yes. really.) Think of Hampton Court and you immediately think of the great Tudor Palace that it once was. Whilst a good percentage of the Tudor buildings exist, most of the visitor accessible parts are from much later rebuilds. The Tudor...
Read more

The Restless Republic - Radio 4

-
Image
 For those of you with an occasional ear on Radio 4, this week's Book of The Week may be of interest... The Restless Republic - Britain Without A Crown by Anna Keay is being serialised this week. Five 15 minute programmes serialise the story of 'the extraordinary decade that followed the execution of Charles I in 1649'. All episodes will be available for five weeks via BBC Sounds. You can find the BBC Radio page for the programme here. If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider  supporting  the blog.  Thanks .
Read more