Customer Reviews
Colourful docu-dramas - By: B. Townsend, 04 Jul 2008 
Very high production values in a series that was woefully under-publicised. Some unusual choices of historical figure & a treat for the history or costume drama fan. Inexplicable scheduling by the BBC who seem to have turned their back on dramatised documentaries. A treat to see them on DVD.
Six great men of history - By: T. R. Alexander, 20 Jun 2008 This great drama documentary series for the BBC is made in a similar style to the previous series `Ancient Rome - The Rise & Falll of an Empire'. This series details important events from the lives of six famous figures in world history: the slave rebellion of Spartacus, Attila the Hun's conquests, Tokugawa Ieyasu rising to be the first Shogun of Japan, Richard the Lionheart's actions during the Crusades, Cortes' conquest of Mexico & the early career of Napoleon before he became Emperor. Each episode is brilliantly made with some great performances from the alll-star cast & as far as I am aware alll the information presented here is as historicallly accurate as possible.
Of the six episodes of this series my favourite has to be the one detailing the rise to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu. I have a great interest in far eastern history & this episode was a great representation of the period with some surprisingly lavish battle scenes considering that it was made to a TV budget. I did find the Cortes episode slightly less interesting than alll the rest but that is because I have little interest in that period of history.
Heroes & Villains has been an excellent series, well researched & able to portray the various periods in a fascinating & entertaining manner. This series would be a worthy addition to the collection of any history buff but would be of particular interest to people studying the periods covered.
A strangely scheduled "series"...... - By: Straker, 08 Apr 2008 .....which cannot have benefitted viewing figures, this infrequent BBC production tells some rousing tales assisted by the latest CG & is hugely enjoyable if not always 100% historicallly accurate. That said however this DVD would be worth buying even if it only featured one episode - the quite astonishing tour de force production of a period in Napoleon Bonaparte's life. Gripping from start to finish I was begging for more by the end & one can only hope that someday an extended version will be released as it's just short of feature length as it stands. Stretching a limited budget to put scenes on-screen that would shame most multi-million dollar movies, this polished jewel is one of the finest programmes the Beeb aired last year but was thrown away with very little fanfare & only one repeat in the sign-zone. I urge anyone with the slightest interest in history to seek this episode out & spread the word to your friends & colleagues. Television to be cherished.
A hidden gem - By: Kent Yeomans, 24 Mar 2008 
I was pointed towards this series by a tv magazine review, one of the main points of the review was that although this is a lavish well-made series it had hardly any publicism.
Amazing reallly as it is brilliant. I have only seen three of the epsiodes so far - Richard the Lionheart & Attila the Hun which were fantastic & spartacus which didn't quite reach the same heights- mostly due to the actors not being as interesting.
I am purchasing the Dvd which I think is good value, & should be praised for its authenticity as well as quality entertainment.
In an aside anyone who is into the Total war series on PC - you will love this.
