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- BBC
- Jun 16, 2013
- BBC
- Jun 16, 2013
- BBC
- Jun 16, 2013
- BBC
- Jun 16, 2013
Where to Watch
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
70
64% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
36% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
70
64% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
36% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Queen delivers the basic goods (intrigue, sex) , but the only vivid character is Margaret Beaufort, mom of the future Henry VII. She's played by Amanda Hale with startling neuritic fervor. [12 Aug 2013]
Absurd but engrossing War of the Roses-era drama. [9 Aug 2013, p.73]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 52 User Ratings
7.7
83% Positive
43 Ratings
43 Ratings
12% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
6% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 52 User Ratings
7.7
83% Positive
43 Ratings
43 Ratings
12% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
6% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Very pleasant history lesson about the cousins war. The series is far better than 'The Tudors' and doesn't rely on pretty faces and excessive sex for its impact. Instead we have complex history made simple for mass consumption. It has everything from battles, witchcraft, romance and intrigue. The production looks great and performances are solid with Janet McTeer standing out. I have read the history of this period and it is good to see people like author Phillipa Gregory challenging the old myths about characters like Richard the third and the princes in the tower. This is solid and captivating high quality entertainment.
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SEASON 1
It may not have the production values of those shows [The Tudors or The Borgias], but it does have an Irons, who, along with the rest of the cast, makes The White Queen an entertaining romp through a complicated and fascinating period of English history.
Adapted from three overlapping page-turners by the prolific Philippa Gregory, this enjoyably propulsive high melodrama replays the classic Wars of the Roses family feud (York vs. Lancaster) from the perspective of the women who are both pawns and players in a violent, turbulent game of claiming and keeping the English throne.
Each of them [actresses Rebecca Ferguson, Faye Marsay and Amanda Hale] stabs backs and pops bodice buttons with the necessary élan while keeping a straight face at The White Queen’s putative moral, which is that arranged marriages are corrupt and evil, while those born of attempted rape, self-mutilation and suicide are sacred and empowering.
Its success is due largely to the costumes, set dressing, and comeliness of the two leads, a smoldering Max Irons (son of Jeremy) and radiant Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson.... The problem with The White Queen is its pace, slowed by ponderous exposition and arcane bloodline conspiracies.
The good news: The White Queen gets off to an entertaining start. The bad news: In subsequent episodes it gets bogged down in then-this-happened, then-that-happened jumps through history.
The White Queen by Emma Frost (apparently no relation to the marvel character) is a new period piece about women in politics in England prior to Henry VIII. If you know everything about British royal history, this show will bore you to death. If you don't, however, you will very much benefit from the historical accuracies of this show while indulging in the pleasures of its liberties. It's true to the times and focuses mostly on the politics and relationships of royalty rather than on the battles and violence. The show, while true to how women were treated at the time and boasting a powerful female cast, actually centering on women in politics, can be construed as quite offensive to women. The White Queen is literally with a different child in each episode, making her pregnant 90% of the show. Every other women in the show, is also treated as exiting merely to make babies and nothing else. If you can get past this, which, I admit, is a pretty steep thing to get past, it really is a good show.
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SEASON 1
The White Queen is probably more engrossing for the British viewer with a firmer historical perspective on the era. That being said, it is well paced and engaging.
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SEASON 1
