Review of the first episode of Becoming Elizabeth, a costume drama about the intrigues of the 16th-century royal court
A new perspective on the life and ascension to the throne of the virgin queen.
1547. Henry VIII has died, England has lost its king, and his children find themselves under the scrutiny of society. While the newly widowed Katherine Parr (Jessica Raine) is relieved in the arms of Thomas Seymour (Tom Cullen), court statesman, another Seymour, brother of the queen's lover, the Duke of Somerset (John Heffernan), arrives at Enfield for nine-year-old Edward (Oliver Zetterstrom), the monarch's son and chief heir. There is also young Elizabeth (Alicia von Rittberg), daughter of the executed Anne Boleyn, who soon moves to her stepmother's estate. There is also Henry's third child, the Catholic Mary (Romola Garay), who will still manage to play an important role in the fate of the country. Thus begins an epic power struggle, in which half-brothers and sisters often find themselves pawns in the hands of lords and regents.
The somewhat convoluted plot lines perfectly describe the level of confusion that Henry VIII left behind: the confrontation between Catholicism and Protestantism, the confrontation of the surviving children, the attempts of those close to the court to take a piece of power. This is probably the reason why the Tudor dynasty repeatedly acted as a source of inspiration for books, movies and television series. Cate Blanchett's breakthrough role in the Shekhar Kapur pioneering film series is worth a look. In other words, the chosen historical period is by no means lacking in retellings. For this reason, the authors of "Becoming Elizabeth" should at least find a new angle to portray the red-haired girl who led England to the "golden age".
Curiously enough, the narrative of the series begins immediately after the death of Henry VIII. The main character is still 11 years away from her coronation, which means that there is a tangle of family tensions, succession issues and the usual adolescent girl growing up. This is how Elizabeth appears to the audience - lost because of the news of the King's death, whose figure does not leave the young lady's mind: the man who killed her mother and then got rid of the girl herself, but still, after all, a father whose love has always been lacking.
The future queen's early years offer a different perspective on the historical figure. A portrait emerges of a naive girl excited by the unexpected advances of Thomas Seymour, the same one who seduces the dead king's wife at the other end of the estate. We are facing an episode from the biography of the monarch, which has no confirmed evidence. However, this is the version the screenwriters stick to: the ruler's decisive steps are still a long way off, and meanwhile a fairy-tale romance and confounding forbidden feelings await the princess.
Obviously, like most projects, Becoming Elizabethan takes time to reveal its strengths after being introduced into the context. However, we can already tell from the first episode that the series will firmly establish itself in a certain niche of costume dramas and romantic reenactments of history, and this genre is not known to suffer from a shortage of fans.
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