[1] Blending both documentary and dramatic elements, the six-hour series was a portrait of former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, with Sean McCann in the leading role.
Tony Atherton of the Ottawa Citizen wrote that it functioned better as a documentary than as a drama, but ultimately concluded that "despite its length, and occasional tedium, The King Chronicle provides Canadians with fascinating portrait of a colorful historic figure, and a better understanding of themselves.
"[4] while Jim Bawden of the Toronto Star praised McCann's performance but opined that "Brittain, a superb moviemaker, should not have written the script.
Viewers will be treated to a thoroughly entertaining and informative account of three tumultuous decades in Canada's history, when events were quietly and slyly manipulated by a political genius.
Jack Granatstein called it awful and riddled with errors, Bruce Hutchison was charitable about the need to condense a 55-year political career into a six-hour film but was critical of McCann's performance as not really capturing how King actually conducted himself, while Bernard Ostry praised the series for demystifying King but lamented the inability to provide deeper context for some of his actions.