helicreature

This undoubtedly looks good. The set and costume designers have done a great job as have most of the cast - but I couldn't get past Alicia Von Rittberg's unconvincing accent and the hopeless and myriad historical inaccuracies. As for portraying Thomas Seymour as some romantic love interest, as opposed to the sexual predator he was....

Romola Garai gives a great performance as Mary, but the stand-outs for me were two young actors of whom I predict great things; Bella Ramsey made Lady Jane Grey come alive for me - a poor young woman being led to the slaughter by her ambitious relatives - and Oliver Zetterstrom's performance as Edward VI was simply extraordinary.

This should have been great, so it is disappointing that bizarre casting of the lead actor and casual dismissal of historical facts, taint an obviously very expensively produced work.

This is so disappointing. I will admit that it looks pretty - but putting a load of good looking people into costumes which have no bearing on the period and having them talk to each other like modern day teenagers is such a waste of great subject matter. I had hoped that it was another 'Wolf Hall', 'Cranford' or 'Becoming Elizabeth' (it's cleverly marketed) and had made the mistake of purchasing the first episode but I didn't even make it all the way through.

It felt like they wanted to make a 'cute' vaguely historical looking drama which would appeal to the masses, without bothering to do any research and pinned Mary Queen of Scots on it to convince themselves, and fool their prospective audience, into thinking it wasn't just..... tripe.

This turned out to be an unexpected treat. It almost passed me by because I had no idea it was the 'Horrible Histories' and 'Ghosts' writers and actors and so wasn't expecting to find another work of genius by that team. As someone else commented here, the trailers are really poor.

As usual the team are all playing multiple parts, proving so versatile, and very obviously enjoying themselves. Damien Lewis and Helen McCrory' s appearance being an unexpected treat. Ben Willbond (one of the co-writers of the screenplay) is wonderfully dastardly as The King Of Spain. It's funny, warm and engaging and beautifully made. I predict it will become a cult classic once more people discover it exists.