Prince Regent

The YouTube algorithm delivered this series to me last week. While the reign of George IV may not be remembered as one of the high points in the history of British monarchy, this vain, gluttonous, intelligent man lived at a consequential time. Just take a look at his contemporaries - Byron, Keats, Shelley, Jenner, Faraday, George Sand, Turner, Napoleon - the list is much longer.

Virtue has its good points, but its presentation on screen can be a bit boring. Nothing boring here about the behavior of our Prince Regent. Even if the passage of time has softened attitudes toward his many vices, those vices still make for an involving several nights in front of the tv screen.

The episode scripts are strong. Actors Peter Egan, Nigel Davenport, Frances White - they portray quite a family. By itself Susannah York's performance as Maria Fitzherbert makes the series worth watching. Although the video is nearly a half century old and consequently a little blurry, "Prince Regent" has held up well.

The creators of this series were obviously not the first to spot the dramatic possibilities for George IV. Interestingly, the series does not mention the king's odd friendship with George Bryan "Beau" Brummell. This aspect of the story is presented in several films, among them a personal favorite, MGM's "Beau Brummell" (1954) with Peter Ustinov as George and Stewart Granger as the legendary clothes horse of the Regency era.