This historical temporary drama is about a fictional royal family based on the novel by Philippa Gregory. The show premiered in June 2017 with eight episodes on the Starz television network. I think this series is a good summary of the book for those who have not read it, like myself. The details were appropriate enough to be entertained from the clothing to the food.
Jodie Comer portrays the short lived role of Elizabeth of York, or Lizzie, who later becomes Queen of England for her permanent role throughout the season. The show begins with a rather weak approach to introduce Lizzie and her lover, Richard III with a flashback. The scene displayed a quick glance of the assassination of Richard III and a tame love scene between him and Lizzie. I expected more of a background story between the couple but the show continued on to the topic of the new Tudor reign in England. However, this abrupt approach may have been due to the director’s vision of getting to the point of the plot and to introduce the characters in a faster manner.
The medieval drama provided appropriate visuals such as the scenery and costumes for the actors. The castles were as tall and full of open space as I would imagine a kingdom would acquire. In regards to the scenery, the lush green fields displayed in Burgundy, France where Margaret, the Duchess of Burgundy resides, was vibrant and went well with the royal aesthetic of her kingdom. The countless gowns, royal suits, and knight armor seemed to be historically accurate in regards to my personal understanding of medieval fashion. I feel as if each costume brought out each character’s personality and emphasized their role.
Throughout the show’s season, Lizzie’s mother, Queen Elizabeth Woodville, played by Essie Davis, proved to be the problematic character that simply wants family justice for her York empire. Her use of a witchcraft or voodoo practice seemed a bit dramatic for my liking. In about the third episode, Queen Elizabeth Woodville casts a hallucinogenic-like spell on the king’s mother, Margaret Beaufort, played by Michelle Fairley. The spell traps Beaufort in her own guilt in which she pursued orders to have two potential heirs killed, Lizzie’s brothers. The Queen continues to use the spells on the king’s mother throughout the season in which begins to drive Beaufort paranoid due to her own guilty conscious. This guilt forces her to confess her sins to her romantic confidant, the king’s uncle, Jasper Tudor who is played by Vincent Regan. She then kills him in fear of him confessing her crime to the kingdom. The spells seemed to be more dramatic than needed and threw off the balance of a historical storyline and into more of a fantasy.
The plot surrounding the series was a very detailed one in which I feel gives the actual novel justice. Fans of the actual book can put a face to the character and relate it to how they imagined their physical appearance to be. The cast worked well in a way that a history book would explain such events. The role of each character fit the plot accordingly and left a sense of connection in a different way for each person. In the beginning of the season, Lizzie and Queen Elizabeth Woodville made me sympathetic to their losses of their partners and now kingdom. However later in the season I became more sympathetic towards Henry VII who really just wanted to prove his leadership and was actually a decent guy. On the episode titled “Traitors”, the actors that were portrayed as a traitor, had little to no speaking roles but I could feel a sense of an alliance against King Henry VII played by Jacob Collins-Levy. The show began to make me choose sides of loyalty which was interesting because there is some kind of moral stance in each character’s role.
For example, the king’s mother’s loyalty remained to her son even if it meant killing off two young boys for a risk of them snatching the thorn. Lizzie’s loyalty remained with her family’s reign until she began to become empathetic towards her husband, Henry VII, and their two sons. Lizzie’s mother loyalty remained with her family’s bloodline even up until her death in the Tudor castle. Lastly, Lizzie’s cousin, Maggie, remained loyal to her own moral instinct of justice among the royal family.
The ending of the show was a strong one that could be considered a cliffhanger but also not really necessary for more information. Queen Lizzie got what she wanted for her two sons, a lifted curse and a healthy father as king. If the series does continue, it would be at best to fast forward to the storyline of the prince and the Spanish princess mariage considering that is where this season left off. The dynamic of the show was well paced and enough drama to be entertained for the eight hours of content provided.
The special effects throughout the series were strong enough for such a short series. In regards to the beginning of episode eight where Lizzie is having a nightmare and she sees the beheading of her husband and two prince sons, the CGI looks promising. The heads resemble the zombies that are beheaded on an episode of the AMC series, The Walking Dead. Also, the blood the king’s mother places her hands in along with the blood Lizzie steps in at the end of the season looks rich and thick as if it were real. A fight season within the season used an obvious CGI technique to create the illusion of more knights in battle but it did not come off as tacky or cheap.
The overall series was entertaining and the dialogue was one that made me feel historically connected and engaged with the show. I would recommend this show to those interested in fiction with a historical twist. I would also recommend to bookworms that enjoy reading historical fiction novels.