Clumsy take on history

In 1680, Charles II had reigned over England for 20 years.

Hope the restoration of the monarchy would bring stability to a realm fractured by civil war was fading.

Fears that his Roman Catholic brother, James, would succeed to the throne opened old religious wounds and fanned the embers of republican idealism.

I have the above information second-hand from the new two-part drama New Worlds, beginning this Thursday on Sky Movies Extra.

But, gee, it all sounds correct.

Of course Charles II did bring in the Act of Uniformity, which required all Puritans to accept the doctrines of the Church of England.

What happened next, of course, was the United States.

It is that series of historical events, and the ideals and politics behind them, that New Worlds attempts to recreate.

The show begins with some on-screen text, to bring the historically impoverished up to speed.

It suggests King Charles hunted down those who killed his father (long story) and ''his vengeful eye falls upon Massachusetts''.

The Puritans had ''a more immediate threat - the Native Americans''.

We meet the Puritans - clearly an angry and resentful bunch, lacking a decent hairdresser, fascinated by corn and the amount they are paying in rent.

Their only saving grace is each is blessed by the most terrific set of white teeth, clearly testament to the dental skills of the age.

But those teeth are soon either smashed in, or the head they grace severed from the body of its host, when a tribe of topless Native Americans storm in while the settlers discuss said corn and rent.

Meanwhile, back in Blighty, King Charles is being evil and malevolent, as he hunts down the Levellers, a political movement that emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance.

The New Worlds' version of the Levellers are Restoration-era hippies - they live in a sun-soaked Oxfordshire house, surrounded by blooming white flowers, where they dance about, freckle faced, in their nighties, and indulge in simple country living.

My initial loyalty, as the story unfolds, was clearly with the king, though apparently the show is angled in quite another direction.

Its publicity blurb claims it is ''a powerful drama of love, courage, sacrifice and the struggle for liberty and peace.

Four young idealists fall in love as they commit to forging a fairer future with blood, passion and urgency''.

The show was produced for Channel 4 in England, where it received less than favourable reviews on its broadcast in April.

It is clumsy and unnecessarily romantic in its attempts to set the scene for a promise of the ''story of the people, events and ideas that shaped the world we live in today''.

- Charles Loughrey

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