Ever since Network DVD went into administration in 2023, I have made it my mission to pick up releases from their back catalogue wherever I see one that might appeal to me – for a sensible price of course.
Generally speaking, I don’t like biopics. I’m not especially enamored with the Royal Family, and truthfully I had never heard of Edward Fox or Cynthia Harris – who play the leads in this drama. So I felt there was a only a slight chance that it would be something I might enjoy. But it as was only £1, I figured, at the very least I’d have a another DVD with the Network badge on it on to sit on my shelf at home.
I really did not know what to expect from this series, but it says in the blurb on the back cover that Edward Fox won a Bafta for his performance as King Edward and that it was a critically acclaimed series. I also applied a bit of logic, because I know that back in the 1970’s when this made, TV producers, in deference to the Royal family, took pains not to gratuitously depict anything that might offend and nothing would offend more than an impoverished half-baked production. That it depicts royalty circa 1930’s, then by rights it should be an elegant production.
Indeed, this series is a most sumptuous production for the era, encompassing authentic-looking sets and lots of location filming, which is another authentic touch, considering how much his this monarch enjoyed foreign travel.
The performances throughout this series are studied portrayals of real people, where great care has been taken to find actors who resemble their real-world counterparts and work in sympathy to develop the right look and sound. Patrick Troughton, under a bald cap playing Clement Attlee is a good example of that attention to detail. All of which adds to the verisimilitude, which must have been even more intriguing for the 1970’s audience this was made for, many of who will have lived through the events depicted.
The story of Edward and Mrs Simpson is split into seven 50-minute episodes and takes us right back to the beginning of the story and Edward’s preoccupation with married ladies before his first meeting with Mrs Simpson. The narrative takes us all the way through her divorce proceedings, his decision to abdicate, and the famous broadcast in which Edward the Eighth informed a sorry nation that he couldn’t continue to be king without “the woman I love”.
I’m not particularly well up on this era of history, and have little knowledge about the people or personalities involved, therefore it would be wrong to comment on this episode of British history. But I find myself sympathizing with Edward, with the inner conflict and the mental turmoil his dilemma causes. There were scenes where Fox beautifully plays this inner turmoil. They’re just scenes of the king walking in his grounds, carrying his little dog under his arm and yet they resonated with me. I recognized the walk. That’s how well he played it. I recognized the walk of a man weighed down with so much conflict that he’s not taking proper steps. It’s not even a real walk because the footfalls are wildly inconsistent, never straight. The eyes never move far from the ground, if only to cast momentarily upward toward the middle distance. It was quite a affecting. A small moment, played well.
Hard as it may be for readers outside the UK to believe but majority of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland take very little interest in the Royal Family. In fact, since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there seems to be more anti-royalist feeling than ever. (To me, one rich person at the top of the tree is much like any other to me, at least our Royal Family feel a sense of public duty which you can’t say about many other rich people). A lot of people alive now perhaps don’t know the story of Kind Edward eighth who was not allowed to marry the twice-divorced American Wallace Simpson, so this does posses educational value too.
Indeed, the middle half of the story is out-of-touch old blokes whining about constitutional practices and getting their knickers in a twist over Wallace Simpson, who may be as ambitious as history suggests, but to me seems a harmless socialite with no aspirations grander than possessing a lofty title. It’s hard watching in that respect and you do need to be involved with the human drama, of a man who has the power to be king but can’t marry who he wants. It seems so small, so trivial by today’s standards. Because this is the story of people too consumed by their prejudice and archaic rules to be objective and make new ones.
Edward and Mrs. Simpson is, first and foremost, a love story. Whether it has a happy ending I think is a matter of conjecture, and depends how you feel about love. Whether you consider this a happy ending will also hinge on how much of a romantic you are, probably. For me the story has a sad ending, because it is written in history, Edward abdicates in favour of his brother, all because the house of Commons refuses to pass the necessary legislation needed for him to marry a divorced, non-national commoner, and the government threatens to resign over the issue, which would have necessitated a general election based on the issue of whom the king should be allowed to marry. And there were still plenty of attempts to compromise, to find a middle ground, and subsequent attempts to stop the couple from marrying, even after Edward had abdicated.
And it’s the story of upper class English repression. Not repression of the lower, working classes – who were the people most aggrieved by the ultimate outcome – but the repression of traditionalists in the church and the government, stiff-necked imperialists frightened of change. It shows the inner a working of the UK at it’s least flexible and most damaging. In that respect, it depicts an extremely sorry chapter in British history, and as a result is quite a somber thing to watch.
But it is most enjoyable. Edward Fox does an absolutely marvelous job of playing Edward, or David as he was known to his friends, and nicely builds the story from Edward’s first dalliances with married or divorced women of his acquaintance to the moment where he is finally allowed to address his subjects via the new medium of radio broadcast.
Each episode has an individual title which is printed on the front of the two discs contained in the box. One half of the inside cover gives brief detail about the production of this series and the other half features a brief synopsis of each episode.
The approximate running time of the whole series is 350 minutes (almost 6 hours) but you find will pass by quickly as the viewer becomes more embroiled in the plot, as the stakes are raised ever higher. If you’re not familiar with the story, or if you know the broad strokes of the history but the not the finer detail, then there is a great deal to enjoy.
As I said, whether you think this period of history has a happy ending depends on how much of a romantic you are. Personally, I found it bloody ridiculous, even for the standards of the day, that such a double standard could apply to a reigning monarch and that the senseless moriatum of history and tradition couldn’t have been circumnavigated to allow the continuance of, what started, as a great reign. That so much would change, socially and economically following the World War 2 just adds to the frustration and the growing despair prevalent in these seven episodes.
Highly recommended. I gave this a punt and I’m glad I did.
*The photo used is a ‘stock’ image taken from an Ebay listing. Photos of the DVD and inlay are missing from this post because I have loaned my copy of Edward and Mrs. Simpson to a relative at time of writing.
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