hamlet-16

The critics have been cruel. The ratings are middling BUT they miss the point.

This is a typical Agatha Christie-esque who-dunnit.... take a group of people at a country house and have a dead body type of whodunnit.

So it becomes a sort of puzzle.

1. Attractive cast - check 2. Attractive locale - check 3. Characters with secrets - check 4. Characters with motive - check 5. Characters with opportunity - check 6. Murder victim who may or may not be a nice person - check 7. Big reveal at the end after assorted red herrings are resolved. - check

Now comes the hard part. Is it well done?

Actually I think it is. It does drag at little in the middle but the resolution works.

As for the cast. I think they all do quite well and Nicole Kidman whom I have never quite taken to actually surprises me. I usually find her cold but in this, at the end, I fully understood her character. Her much maligned accent actually makes sense in the circumstances.

Give it a try. It is not the greatest mystery ever but it is fun if you just go along for the ride.

History is a strange thing it is not a straight no matter how much some people want it to be.

Mary & George is about one of the many favourites of King James 1 of England. As portrayed here, and apparently in fact, James enjoyed the company of his male favourites to that of his wife and as a consequence young men vie for his favours as young women would vie for a monarch's favour in other royal courts.

One such is George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine) whose mother is like a stage mother from hell, played with delicious venom by the wonderful Julianne Moore.

This series is sexual more than sexy. Raw in its use of language. Violent in its telling of history. Political games are played and won and lost.

The script is not too removed from know historical facts at least as far as Villiers and the King are concerned.

The design, costumes and cinematography are breathtaking.

Galitzine plays Villiers with an insouciance and gradual knowing of his role and power.

There is much black humour in this series but at its heart is a story rarely told of homosexual monarchs and the games played around them.

Silly, unbelievable, fluffy, joyful ... two hours of fun. When you sit down to watch it you know exactly what you are getting and it delivers quite nicely.

Our two protagonists squabble... kiss... argue .... kiss ... all the standard ingredients of a classic rom com.

In a year which has seen Heartstoppers, Bros and Young Royals and now the lovely Red White and Royal Blue gay streaming patrons are having a treat of a time.

Nicholas Galitzine (who is a real Russian aristocrat) and Taylor Zakhar Perez have a natural chemistry that helps make the unlikely love story work. Add to that the fabulous Uma Thurman as the President and Sarah Shahi as the aid charged with keeping an eye on Taylor and you have a fun trip ahead.

Sit back and relax and don't think too hard ...just enjoy the well trodden rom com path.