Always thought Nicole Kidman would make the perfect Mary Queen of Scots in any film.

Oh dear. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot was absolutely diabolical. Why on earth can't they tell the real story of MQS? It is profoundly dramatic. McGovern's screenplay was so bad it was funny. Psychotic James VI down in England for his mother's funeral?

Elizabeth and Mary NEVER met each other! I'll bet they do in this film.

sorry, 'funeral' should be 'execution'

Michelle McManus would be excellent in the role of the Queen!

Don,t look up beheading on the net.In this world there are some very very sick people.

The true story is fascinating enough, tell it like it was.

Sadly she made some bad choices.
Unlucky to be around with religious conflict within Europe. John Knox was no help.
Mary was probably too nice. A fish out of water.
Yeah they will have them meet, film makers can't help themselves.

they will just make a mess off the whole story as they did with wallace.

The jury seems to be still out on Mary Queen of Scots. How involved was she in the murder of Darnley? Did she go willingly with Bothwell to Dunbar Castle or was she abducted and raped?

Yes, I agree - Nicole Kidman would make a good Mary - she has the right colouring for a start. Helena Bonham Carter would be good as Elizabeth or Cate Blanchett who has played her before.

Guaranteed that the film makers will get them to meet up ..... even though they never did in real life. A dramatic meeting between the two Queens is too much of a temptation for any director to pass up.

Ian,

John Knox met with Mary several times and there was a certain respect between them, apparently. He tried to find some common ground, but she was determind to stick to her faith no matter the politics.

She was just a continuation of the disasterous Stewart/Stuart dynasty. That's the trouble with Monarchy.

Joanna, there is no doubt Bothwell was a badyin, but the romantics got a hold of the story a long time ago and have blurred the detail. It would seem Mary was put upon, but I think she just couldn't adapt to Scotland - especially with her rearing in the French Court. Coupled with the idea of devine right, she was doomed from the start in the turbulent Scottish Court!

I still think Michelle McManus is the one, with Julian Clary playing Queen Elizabeth

I've always thought that grave in the Canongate Kirk,Edinburgh reputed to be Rizzos could lead to some interesting answers, especially as the Stuarts ended up in Italy? A project like the recent De Medici investigation led to some interesting results, imagine the Rizzo murder, interesting???

There was an old rumour that James VI was actually Rizzo's child and that is why Rizzo was murdered. There is also an old story about the real prince dying as a baby and being buried in the walls of Holyrood and a changeling being brought up as James VI. Fascinating stuff and it certainly seems to prove the case that conspiracy theories are not a modern invention.

Julian Clary as Elizabeth - well, he would certainly camp up the role of the old dominatrix!!;))

Joanna,

I think it could work. Julian is renowned for his bouts of celibacy, so he could ease into the virgin role!

[11: Joanna] What a wonderful idea. How'd you know EI liked the old s&m ?

Joanna, The portraits of JameaVI and David Rizzio do seem very much alike. I wonder if after the death of James and internment in Henry VIIths Tudor vault in Westminster Abbey, he was even embarrassed to face his mother and cousin Arbella in the Stuart vault, even in death.

Well, t82, they were a cruel lot in those days - what we now think of as S & M might just have been an ordinary, recreational event for them!! ;))

Elizabeth I was certainly an Alpha female and she dominated the men at her court. She never married either, probably because she couldn't bear the thought of sharing her power or being told what to do by hubby:))

Jean, some historians say that James VI was sensitive about his paternity - but like a lot of history its open to speculation.

Bet the English don't come out well in the film though. Good job Mel Gibson ain't it in, in it?

oops trying to be toooo clever! So that should read - ain't in it, in it?

If Hollywood gets this one historicaly correct it will indeed be a rare event. I remember all too well the movie with Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson. Why would two talented actresses (especially British actresses who should have refused to act in something concerning history that was false) -the movie was dreadful. Can't see this new model being much better. Those of us who are older remember the fiasco of Hollywoood doing the Agatha Christies Miss Marple and Poirot - the actors chosen were awful as well as all the changes in the original story made. In my book, David Suchet and Joan HIckson were the most "realistic" characters. HOpe I'm wrong about this latest Mry film but i rather dobut it. Hollywood could ruin an ant's picnic.

sorry about typos. The carpal tunnel syndrome is really bad today. Someday I will get disgusted enough and have the surgery. Call me "chicken".

Wasn't Rizzo suspected of being gay? Not that that precludes him fathering a child, of course.

I used to be quite fascinated by Mary as a young girl, read the Lady Frazier book and all. I've always thought Mary was hotter than Elizabeth. The Redgrave/Jackson movie prompted the only sex education my parents ever gave me because it was rated PG (parental guidance). They asked me if I "knew". I said, yes, that I "knew". End of discussion and we went to the movie. Hope this new movie is a good one. Personally, I prefer historical accuracy, too.

Kathy @ 20

James VI and I was also believed to have homosexual tendancies even though he fathered 9 children, of which only 3 survived infancy, to his wife Anne of Denmark.

James had close and documented relationships with two young men: Robert Carr, the son of Sir Thomas Carr or Kerr of Ferniehurst. According to contemporary reports James fell in love with the young man, and as the years progressed showered Carr with gifts. The other was George Villiers, the King wrote to Villiers: "I desire only to live in this world for your sake... God bless you, my sweet child and wife, and grant that ye may ever be a comfort to your dear dad and husband." James bestowed a multitude of honours upon Villiers, culminating with creating him Duke of Buckingham.

There has always been speculation about James VI and I's sexual tendancies.

John Knox and the 'Lords of the Congregation', were determined to overthrow a 'female monarch'and a Catholic as according to Puritan Theology it was against the law of God.
They used the Biblical Queen Athalia as a basis for their construct.
Athalia supposedly had usurped the throne of Israel after all the King's sons had been killed except for one,who had been saved by his nurse and kept in the Temple until he was ten.The Temple Priests then produced him, proclaimed him King, and ordered Queen Athalia to be killed.
John Knox used this story of the Bible to reason it was acceptable to murder a man in cold blood,and depose an anointed Queen.
The plot against Rizzio was known in England a month before it happened.Cecil,Robert Dudley,and Walsingham did not warn Queen Mary, although the French got wind of it and warned her but the warning came too late.
The noble 'Lords of the Congregation,' wanted to keep Mary imprisoned until the birth of her child,crown him King,and dispose of her.Lord Ruthven was against this plan he said"It will only be another girl".
Queen Mary was very fortunate not to have been butchered along with Rizzio.
John Knox was implicated in the murder of Cardinal Beaton long before the return of Queen Mary to Scotland.
He would be very much at home with the Taleban.
I think the BBC could make a good film with a British cast.Keira Knightley as the young Mary and Rachael Stirling as Queen Elizabeth would be interesting.

Who could cast as John Knox ? Billy Conolly would be quite good, although if he were still alive I think Dave Allen would have been fantastic!!!

John Knox could be played by Robert Carlyle - I think he'd be pretty good in the role :))

What about Bothwell? We need a sexy leading man for him ............ how about Viggo Mortensen - he always looks good on a horse (for the ride to Dunbar)!

Was Mary Queen of Scots fortunate not to have been butchered? seems to me she was, it took several blows before her decapitation was a success. By her death mask it would appear that she was quite an attractive woman, pretty even. Perhaps she was the 'Diana' of her day, or wanted to be.

Joanna, Bothwell ? How about Ralph Fiennes and Elizabeth ? Kristen Scott Thomas. Don't forget Walsingham, Essex, Duke of Norfolk, Darnley, FrancoiseofFrance, Mary of Guise the list is endless and would probably go well over Hollywoods budget..Ava Maria!!!

Johnny Depp for Darnley - he could play an English dandy to perfection - he'd probably steal the film. Alan Rickman could play Mary's illegitimate half brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray because he's good at villians.

Doreen 25: I agree with your comment.Perhaps I ought to have rephrased that to,"James 6th was fortunate that his mother was not killed when Andrew Ker of Fawdonside's pistol misfired when pointed at her abdomen." But I do know what you mean about her execution.

John Knox would fit in perfectly here in the land of the Bible Belt. There are plenty of people around here that still think like him (sadly enough)!
I know Billy Conolly can be a serious actor, but I really picture him as a satirical Pythonesque John Knox! Michael McFadyen from Pride and Prejudice would be a nice Bothwell.

Thanks for the info! : )

Has Hollywood taken any note these recent comments ?