The White Princess: In Bed with the Enemy

The White Princess: In Bed with the Enemy
Starz
6 April 2017
Historical Drama, Fantasy
DVD
C

Emma Frost wrote this adaptation of the Philippa Gregory novel, which I haven't read, although I have read Gregory's The White Queen, which is about Elizabeth Woodville, who is one of the characters here, as the mother of this title character.  The first episode of this miniseries is better than that book, and for that matter than The Tudors (about the White Princess's son Henry VIII).  However, I was ambivalent through most of the episode, only making up my mind between C and C+ in the final scene.  On the plus side, most of the acting and the production values are quite good. 

On the minus side, none of the characters (except Margaret Plantagenet, whom I've always had a soft spot for) are sympathetic.  Furthermore, if you're not a British royal history buff, you're probably going to be lost sorting out the family tree; although if you are one, you may be annoyed about what's been "changed for dramatic purposes."  The most glaring example is that I kept waiting for someone to point out that the "King Richard" that Princess Elizabeth fell in love with was Richard III, her uncle!  I mean, if Henry Tudor and Lizzie herself are going to call her a whore, why not mention she's also incestuous? 

The "fantasy" tag is for the witchcraft that Dowager Queen Elizabeth practices, which came up in The White Queen as well.  I'm not sure if it's a positive or a negative, since it makes the proceedings cheesier but also more atmospheric.  In any case, an hour was enough with these people, and I say that as someone who owns at least a half dozen biographies and novels on the Plantagenets and Tudors.

Jamie Payne directed five of the eight episodes.