Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Max Irons, James Frain, Aneurin Barnard, Faye Marsey, Amanda Hale, Janet McTeer, Rupert Graves, Caroline Goodall, David Oakes, Eleanor Tomlinson, Juliet Aubrey, Sonny Ashbourne, Pixie Davies, Veerle Baetens, Joey Batey, Michael Marcus, Tom McKay, Francis Tomelty, Michael Maloney, Ben Lamb, Shaun Dooley,  Hugh Mitchell, Robert Pugh, Arthur Darvill.

As television blockbuster’s go, The White Queen has followed on the satisfying trend set by The Tudors to bring sections of history back to life and into the public consciousness.

The story, albeit sometimes fictional, life of Elizabeth Woodville, played with great depth and quality by Rebecca Ferguson, showed just how television can occasionally bring something so marvellous and riveting to life. The medium, which at times almost seems as if it is being self-satisfying and reducing the power it can have on the imagination of the viewer to go and learn new things, to take an active interest in what they have to some degree devoted part of their life too doesn’t always hit the mark but in The White Queen, the intrigue of the court, the butchery and bloodshed of the Medieval age were captured in a way that surpassed even The Tudors. The Cousin’s War, The War of The Roses was a pivotal moment in English history with so many factions vying for the crown of the country that whilst perhaps chiefly being remembered for the men who fought for the throne, should be remembered equally for the women who fought alongside them, the courage and belief of Margaret Beaufort and Elizabeth Woodville being amongst the foremost women of the time.

Spread over ten episodes, the chance to shine as an actor was perfectly spread out. Whilst the main attention was on the ‘White Queen’ Elizabeth Woodville herself, other actors throughout gave such strong and powerful performances that each could have been rightly been given leading credit for the lavish adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s novel. From James Frain’s early dogmatic zeal as Richard Neville’s Kingmaker, the sensitive portrayal by the outstanding Aneurin Barnard of the once loyal Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the wonderful Amanda Hale whose representation of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s religious belief carried her throughout the entire series, Michael Maloney as the gentle and kindly Lord Stafford, Faye Marsey as Lady Anne Neville and Rupert Graves the deliciously determined Lord Stanley

Now if only television executives and programme makers realised there was more to British history than the supposed grim up north and well set history of the Royal family to produce and turn into a series then more people in the country might start appreciating there is more to the country than they realise and what is served to them in a diet of seemingly endless reality and makeover programmes.   For The White Queen, this was television as good and as great as it can be.

Ian D. Hall