Elizabeth I (2005)

Director:  Tom Hooper.

Starring:  Helen Mirren (Queen Elizabeth I), Jeremy Irons (Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester), Patrick Malahide (Sir Francis Walsingham), Toby Jones (Robert Cecil), Hugh Dancy (Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex), Barbara Flynn (Mary Queen of Scots), Ian McDiarmid (William Cecil, Lord Burghley), Jérémie Covillault (Duke of Anjou), Erick Deshors (Jean de Simier), Simon Woods (Gifford), Diana Kent (Lady Essex), Toby Salaman (Dr. Lopez), Geoffrey Streatfield (Sir Anthony Babington), John McEnery (Jesuit Priest), Martin Savage (Stubbs).

HBO drama focusing on the private life of the "Virgin" Queen

I enjoyed the series very much.  It shows a different side of the queen.  She is pictured as a rather full-bodied woman with a healthy and strong sexual drive.  She had several love affairs with prominent men and became greatly enamored of them, almost to the point of considerably distracting her from court politics at times.  It seems that her love affairs ultimately proved to be disappointing to her  -- many of the suitors were as interested or more interested in promoting their own political power than in their "love" for the Queen.  It was partly these series of disappointments that convinced her that she should marry "England" rather than any of the power-hungry men she loved. 

So, if you would like to see, a loving (almost to the point of obsession), passionate Good Queen Bess then this is the movie for you.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.