The Royal Diaries – Dear America (1999/Television/Genius DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Episodes: C+

 

 

A three-part TV production co-produced by Scholastic Publishing that tires to show female royalty throughout the early ages, The Royal Diaries (1999) is an adequate-at-best series is designed to offer historic melodrama for young ladies and though it is not a dud, it is not what we would have hoped to see form such a key name in education.

 

The episodes are:

 

Elizabeth I: Red Rose if the House of Tudor

 

Isabel: Jewel of Castilla

 

Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile

 

 

They are as safe as they are too safe and except for young ladies, I would find richer material to view on the female figures involved.  But these are short, to the point and all on one DVD.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is very soft, looks like filmed productions finished on analog NTSC video and though some money is on the screen, these have not dated well.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is barely stereo and can be thin at times, but is better than the picture.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo