#everyone was going on how this was a great tudor drama (while complaining about the spanish princess)

[arty-e]

My Tudors series ‘review

Y’all asked for this so here comes my rant review about the Tudors:

TW: Rape mentions

First things first let’s address the biggest elephant in the room and that is the costumes. Holy shit series 1 was fucking painful with the costumes. At least they got the basic dress shape for the women but other than that the women costumes were painful to look at. The headdresses were the biggest crime of them all. There were no French hoods, at least no accurate French hoods. Also why were there so many sequences! What was going on with all that glitter!! Don’t get me started on the hair! One lady in waiting (Joan Bulmer) had a fucking bob! A bob! The men costumes weren’t great at the beginning but as the series went on they did improve quite a lot. I’m gonna give credit where credit is due and say it did improve as the series went on as a whole (but not by a lot).

Now that we’ve got the costumes complaints out the way lets actually talk about the ‘contents’ of the series. First of all why the fuck was Charles Brandon such a big deal in this?! He wasn’t as important as the series implied him to be. I feel they only added him so that there was a consistent character through out the show and who was at least a little likeable (tbf on Tudors the main people who played a part in actual Tudor history were often executed or removed at some point).

On the subject of Charles Brandon they did get one thing right; he did marry one of Henry’s sisters, Mary Tudor. However in the series he married Margaret Tudor which made no sense at all! It appears to me that they merged the two sisters together and merge I mean they had the Mary Tudor history then gave them Margret’s name. In actual history Mary Tudor married the old sickly King of France and when he died she then married Charles Brandon. However in the tudors she marries the old sickly king of Portugal???? And because she doesn’t want to remain married to him kills him????? I know why they did this because they had already showed the king of France (Francis) who was young at Field of Cloth and Gold episode so it would make little to no sense to have her marry him. But that leads into my next complaint, the timeline.

Several things in this show don’t make sense with historical context because it’s all jumbled up. A couple of examples here are Henry Fitzroy, they killed him off when he was six in this, he died when he was 17 just before Edward was born. Along with that they also made claim that the Act of Succession (the act allowed Mary and Elizabeth to become Queens after Edward) was passed before Henry had married parr. The whole reason the Act of Succession ever came to be was because Parr had helped reconcile Henry and his two daughters and pushed for him to legitimise them and be added to the line of succession after their brother. Those are just a couple of examples that stood out to me when it came to the timeline.

Also the way they Jane portrayed as an innocent type and a ‘perfect’ woman was also painful. She acts all sweet to Elizabeth when the real Jane only payed attention to Mary and called Elizabeth the Bastard.

Now for my biggest complaint; the heinous misogyny in this thing. The way they treated the female character in this was (in my opinion) worst than actual Tudor history. Women in this show were constantly objectified and the amount of sex scenes in this thing is fucking painful! Did nobody have anything better to do!? In series one they took away Anne Boleyn’s agency and made her a complete puppet of her uncle and father. Anne was a very intelligent and charismatic woman and you don’t see this at all. To be fair on Natalie Dormer she fought with the writers for Anne to be more than sex object for series 2 because she had done her own research on her and fought for Anne. By Series 2 Anne got a bit more agency but they made her somewhat cruel and failed to really show her charisma. Now alone with Anne they were unspeakably cruel for what they did to Katherine Howard. They literally called her prostitute and even an episode synopsis they out right  call her prostitute. She was an abused child and they decided to do that. Along with that they also make it look like that her claim that Francis Dereham raped her was a lie and that she was only saying to save herself. It was truly disgusting. I do appreciate them trying to strongly tell the audience that Katherine was just a child (act all excitable, have dancing around the place) but the rest of her story was handled extremely poorly.

Catherine Parr is my next big complaint. They practically stripped her of everything that made interesting and took away all achievements while married to Henry. Ive already talked about the Act of Succession so I won’t go into that again. They only briefly show her being Queen Regent while Henry is away fighting in France (they were much more focused on Henry’s war), also when she discovers that there is an arrest warrant after her she sits in her room and cries for ages until Henry comes in asking what its wrong. They took away her going to him and winning back her life from him. When Henry does forgive her he is asked by one of his servants if they shoulda top the warrant but he tells them not to all because he wants to catch Gardiner out! What bullshit is that!? They took away Catherine’s indolence and replaced with Henry out smarting his evil bishop!? Henry was too fucking thick to do!

So overall I found this so frustrating to watch from costume and historical inaccuracies to the misogynistic choices to strip the few of the most important women in English history of their agency and independence. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world but still it was really annoying. My advice is for you to watch Game of Thrones instead because then you don’t have to complain about inaccuracies because it’s all fantasy and doesn’t claim to be a historical drama. (Also Natalie Dormer is also in this)

also if you want a good Tudor drama then watch wolf hall. Costumes are amazing and its very well done (only complaint Cromwell is painted too well in it)

(Also Elizabeth needed WAY more screen time)

[ellynneversweet]

Last night’s complaining about period drama costuming inaccuracies has me thinking about how, if you watch a period drama made more than, say, two decades ago, you can generally see the styles contemporary to the time when the film was made creeping in to the decisions they make about how to present the era they’re trying to portray, with greater or lesser degrees of intentionality. This is not, inherently, a bad thing — the point of an adaption is basically never to appeal to a tiny subset of your audience who knows everything about the original text and it’s implications, meta-textual references, and the wider contemporary aesthetic culture in which is was created. That audience is pretty much guaranteed to a. buy tickets and b. complain about something, and if you get too obscure everyone else in your wider general audience will hate it anyways.

If it’s a good adaptation, the point is to translate the work in a way that preserves the greater part of the integrity of the original, while communicating with your audience in the languages and references that they understand.

So what I’m wondering is how to categorise period dramas in line with this theory of ‘period it’s set in via period it’s made in’. So far I’ve got:

1. The production team and audience thought it was scrupulously accurate at the time and were accordingly smug about it, but with the benefit of a few additional fashion cycles the contemporary influence starts to pop out:

Pride and Prejudice 1995. Sea of brown interior decor, men’s costumes fit like men’s suits of 1995 (ie they don’t), the women are in wonderbras and high pony tails curled to look like approximations of regency updos, all the fabric has the weight and sheen of a cotton bedsheet, and everyone’s wearing max factor lipstick in like, rustic rose. Hats and headwear make an appearance, but are not that accurate and are basically just...there. (I want a bonnet trimming scene!)

Pride and Prejudice, 2005. ‘But is was inspired by the 1790s!’ Yeah and it gets the 1790s wrong. Where’s the cool ‘Turkish’ fancy dress and big sashes? Why is Elizabeth wearing knee-high leather boots? Set design is good, though.

Any high-end BBC drama ever. See their War and Peace

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Elizabeth (the Cate Blanchett one)

Marie Antoinette (the Norma Baker one). 1940s shoulders and makeup.

2. Highly accurate, but stylised. Contemporary influences are largely deliberate and often highlighted:

Marie Antoinette (the Sofia Coppola one). The converse shoes in the wardrobe, embroidered arm warmers and manic panic hair dye are obviously not accurate but they’re visually complementary to the actual fashions of the 1780s/90s, and function as character-establishing shorthand for an audience who does wear those things.

Emma., (2020). Fantastic and deliberate set styling and costuming, some very good replicas of extant garments. Emma’s hair is a slightly odd choice, but it gives her a bitch factor that’s vital to the character. Going to look ‘early 2020s’ in a decade or two (the colour palette is straight up VSCO girl).

The Great. Peter’s leopard skin coat is accurate, but Catherine’s hot pink robe sure ain’t.

Anna Karenina (the Joe Wright version). It looks like a very long ad for paspaley jewellery, but the silly moustaches are wonderful.

3. By and large Actually Accurate, featuring some obscure fads that don’t get remembered in the popular consciousness, and characters who are allowed to have actual personal taste:

Bright Star. The main character’s a very serious courturier and always looks very deliberate. What’s-his-name next door is equally deliberate, but he’s an asshole who wears ugly plaid trousers on purpose.

4. Our budget and time is limited and our extras crew is large, so we went with visual cohesion over really striking outfits except for one or two key characters and scenes. No one claims the fabric choices are accurate. People talk about silhouettes a lot. There are no soft furnishings anywhere:

The Crown

The Favourite (bonus points for putting men in high heels, wigs and makeup and still presenting them as conventionally masculine rather than as aberrations)

Mary Queen of Scots

5. ‘Foreign’ films. Set in a culture substantially distinct from that of the production crew, may or may not veer into weird exotic fantasy in a gross way:

Memoirs of a Geisha. Saying nothing of the plot (😬) there was a lot of work put into individualising the costumes in a way that a western audience could indentify.

6. Our budget is a hundred bucks and a packet of Doritos, we borrowed a dress made sixty years ago for the pivotal scene and the actors wore their own jewellery:

Mid-to-low end BBC adaptations

Doctor Who

7. Soap operas for history nerds who also watch The Bachelor:

The Tudors

Reign

Wildcard. The characters are time travellers:

Outlander, especially seasons 1&2 because the later seasons are ‘jail and on-the-run’ chic. Claire’s 1780s-by-1950s looks aren’t meant to be accurate, they’re meant to make her look stylishly out of place.

[tsarinastorm]

Stare Blankly-Adam Sackler/Reader-Chapter 3

*This is the first part of a two part series, So We Beat On 

Chapter 1           Chapter 2

          You finished setting out the wine and snacks, and were pulling up your streaming services on your television. You were having your first real girls’ night since moving to the city, and it was your first time hosting your new friend, Marnie. You met Marnie and Elijah at the same, boring networking event for young women, and bonded over the wine bar. The three of you started chatting about how lame the event was, but at least there was free wine. You became fast friends and grabbed lunch. You were missing your friends from back home so when Marnie mentioned a girls’ night, you thought it was a great idea. Marnie was bringing the nail polish, and face masks, and you supplied the apartment and snacks.

               You had a small one-bedroom apartment in Tudor, and you couldn’t wait to move somewhere else. Your library hardly fit in this apartment and you weren’t ready to give up any part of the collection.  The books, broad in topics, helped you win a few episodes of Jeopardy, enough to pay off your law school debt, and it gave you a chance to focus on writing instead of practicing law. You had written a modern Shakespeare series, some historical fiction and another novel which was released last year, and became a best seller. You freelanced on the side to keep things interesting and to be able to afford living in New York City.

               You were sitting cross-legged on your couch with a glass of wine in your hand and some kind of specialty mask on your face. Marnie was sitting next to you, posed in a similar fashion but with a cucumber mask on. You had some cheesy romantic comedy on but were too busy talking to pay attention. She recounted the breakdown of her marriage and music partnership with Desi, and talked about helping Hannah raise her baby upstate. She said she moved back to the city because upstate just felt suffocating to her. You tell her you understood, you had moved to the city because you wanted more.

“Y/N, you’re a writer, right?”

“Yes I am, are you in need of writing services? Isn’t one of your friend, Hannah, a writer too?”

“Hannah is a writer but she couldn’t help me. I need to work on song lyrics, and I’d like some help. You’re such a great writer maybe you could help me tweak some stuff.”

“Sure, no problem. I know nothing about music so that’s my disclaimer if it’s terrible.”

“I can appreciate any help I could get. It’s so hard to work on music while I have to look for a normal 9 to 5 job too. Working at the coffee shop just isn’t cutting it and it sucks to see Ray every day.” You had heard her talk about her past with Ray, and you couldn’t blame her for not wanting to see him all the time. You remembered that she had an art degree and you had some connections to galleries in the city.

“Wait, don’t you have a degree in art or curatorship? I have a friend who manages artists and is getting ready to open a new gallery featuring his artist’s work. He’s also a professor at Columbia so he always needs some help.”

“That would be great, that’s originally what I wanted to do. Do you think you could get me an interview, or send him my resume?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” You really don’t want to speak to Marc again, but if Marnie needed a job, you could suffer through a conversation. You and Marc had a unique relationship, with ups and downs, and it was currently over. You weren’t prepared for what talking to him again may entail.

               The café was cute, artsy, and seemed to have a variety of drinks and foods catered to hipsters. It almost makes you laugh, but you see your crew motioning for you. You go to the table where you see Marnie, Elijah, a girl with short mousey hair, a cute baby, and another girl with dark hair. You sit down and you can feel the two girls you don’t know watching you curiously. Marnie starts the introductions.

“Y/N, these are my friends, Hannah and Shoshanna. And Hannah’s baby, Grover.”

“It’s nice to meet you guys, I’ve heard so much about you both. And this must be Grover, I’ve heard all about him too. He is adorable.” You say as you watch the baby who’s struggling with his sippy cup. You quickly find out that Hannah has recently moved back to the city, lives on Long Island, and works as an editor now. Hannah also adds that she is single and open to relationships, even potentially getting back with an ex because she thinks she needs closure. Yikes you think, getting back with an ex almost never works well. Elijah is busy entertaining baby Grover and chimes into the conversation every now and then. But you and Hannah are able to have a good discussion about writing and the struggles of being a female writer. Shosh talks about her fiancé, how perfect he is, how she wants to go back to Japan, and about how stressful planning a wedding is. You decently like Hannah and Shosh, but you didn’t know how close you’d be with them, you just had different lives. Everyone at your table then turns to look at some blonde with a British accent coming towards the table.

“Who invited her?” Elijah says icily. Shoshanna answers saying, “I mentioned this to her but she was not invited.” The blonde takes a seat at the table and she introduces herself to you.

“I’m Jessa, their other friend, the bad friend, the one who steals boyfriends.” She says and you watch to see if she’s joking but you’re alarmed when you realize that she is not. You introduce yourself to her, and you can feel that the resentment at the table is practically sizzling.

“Jessa, are you and Adam still fucking or whatever your thing was?” Hannah asks with an edgy tone. You immediately pick up that there’s some drama there, specifically between Hannah and Jessa. Your instinct appears correct because everyone else looks tense as they watch the exchange. Jessa just smiles as she answers, “No, we’re just friends now, but I still talk to him. I hope we can all be friends again now that I’m not with him anymore. Are the rest of you satisfied now?”

“That doesn’t make it any better that you stole her boyfriend.” Elijah snaps at her and rolls his eyes. Marnie and Shosh just watch her, and choose not to respond to her. Jessa turns to Hannah, and says, “Can we talk somewhere?”

“There’s not much to talk about but alright.” Hannah quickly packs up Grover’s things and rushes to leave, she’s obviously frazzled and wants to get that conversation over with. Hannah tells you that it was nice meeting you, gives you a quick hug then is gone. Jessa tells you the same thing, but doesn’t hug you, and it feels like brunch is ruined. That Jessa came in like a hurricane, then left. You must look shocked, because Marnie starts laughing nervously before she explains, “Welcome to the disaster that is our friendship. Adam is Hannah’s ex, then Jessa dated him for a while, it’s a testy subject as you can see. No one wanted Jessa here, and apparently even Adam is sick of her.”

Shosh and Elijah both shake their heads in agreement with Marnie. The remaining four of you continue chatting for an hour or so. You decide that you don’t particularly like Jessa simply because of her history, but to you she seemed decent. You’d keep her at a distance though.  Shoshanna was super sweet, a bit chatty, but well-intentioned, you thought you could be friends with her. You thought Hannah was a bit self-absorbed but good company, and you had a lot in common. Marnie promised to fill you in on the friendship drama later.

“I have a job interview with Marc this week, thank you so much for sending him my info.” Marnie says as she hugs you.

“I hope it all works out, it was really no problem.”

“I have a gig this weekend, you should definitely come, I’ll be performing a new song!”

“Alright, send me the details,” you say as you’re trying to decide if you’re excited or not. You’re excited to support your friend, but will her other friends be there? You weren’t sure if you were interested in their group drama, you had enough of your own issues going on.

*************************************************************************

               Adam walks into the bar, and looks around. It’s definitely not a place he’d normally venture into on his own. He was here for Marnie’s singing gig, he never particularly liked Marnie but Ray encouraged him to show up. Ray was Adam’s only friend, if he could even call him a friend. Jessa claims she’s his friend now, but she’s not. He’s the one who broke up with her, and she was desperate to stay in his life so she convinced him to be friends, but he knows she’s hoping to make it more than friends again. He looks up at the upper level of the bar, and he sees one of the most beautiful girls he’s ever seen.

               She’s standing up there perched against a high table, but she’s clearly enjoying her view over the whole bar. She’s wearing a beige crop top and black skinny jeans, Adam thinks she somehow looks both confident and vulnerable. He makes up his mind that he’s going to talk to her. When he makes to the edge of her table, he asks, “May I join you?”

               “Sure.” She nods and looks at him, and continues, “This is the perfect spot for people watching.”

               “Definitely, do you see that guy down there in the blue shirt, he looks the typical hipster, he probably complains about being ‘friend-zoned.’”

               “That girl there is probably coming off a bad break up and is looking for a rebound. She’s trying to figure out how to look fun but not too desperate.” She laughs, and then her phone buzzes and she says, “I’ve got to go meet my friends but it was nice talking to you, I’m Y/N.”

               She reaches out her hand and he takes it introducing himself, “I’m Adam, I hope I see you around.”

********************************************************************************

You go meet up with Shoshanna, and Hannah. Marnie’s getting ready to go on stage, so the three of you stand off to the side of the platform and wait for her to come out. Shosh and Hannah are talking about how Marnie must be nervous before going on stage, and then you hear Shosh say that she doesn’t even know why Jessa showed up. You think that’s great, let’s bring the drama train back.  Speaking of drama involving someone named Adam makes you think of the Adam you just met. You figure that you’ll see him at some point tonight, this place is only so big. You’re thinking about his perfect imperfect smile when you see him walking your way. He comes up and stands besides Hannah and they talk as you realize that he must the Adam that she and Jessa have the rift over. Hannah then turns to you, and goes to introduce you to Adam, but you stop her saying, “Oh this is the Adam? I just ran into him a couple of minutes ago.”

“Yeah, we talked for a few minutes. How do you two know each other?” Adam asks as he motions his hands towards you and Hannah, you can see the moment it clicks in his head that you must be friends or acquaintances with Hannah. Hannah answers for you telling him “She’s our new friend. We just met her the other day. Did you know that she’s a writer like me?”

“No, we didn’t have time to talk about that,” he says sheepishly. You try to diffuse the situation by asking Adam what he does, he tells you that he’s an actor.  He asks you where you’re from and he responds to your answer by joking that your home might be the only place worse than Indiana. You surprisingly don’t disagree.

“What have you been working on? Every actor I’ve met is like every writer I’ve met: they have projects.” You say coolly, leaning in so he can hear your question over the music. He laughs as he answers your question, “I did a production of Hamlet, and just finished a Death of A Salesman at Minetta Lane. I have some other auditions and projects coming up.”

You recognize him from the production of Hamlet you went to a few months ago, that’s why he looked familiar. Hannah and Shosh has backed away slightly from you, as if to give you privacy to talk. Adam as steps closer to you as you inadvertently take a step towards him too.  You definitely found Adam hot, and you were impressed by his work. You’d seen Hamlet and read the rave reviews for his part in Death of a Salesman. It was the first time in a long time that you felt nervous around someone. It was a good nervous, but still it was making you more self-conscious than you’d like.  You tried to ignore his past with new friends because you could tell that could be a stressful nightmare, but you really wanted to get to know him better. Adam seemed to be smart, non-traditional and interesting. You thought that a compliment was a safe way to start a conversation, or it is with ninety-nine percent of the population.

You take a long sip of your drink and lean in closer to him so he can hear you, “I saw the production of Hamlet, and you were really great. One of the best performances of Hamlet I’ve ever seen.”

“Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. It means a lot, you said you’re a writer so you know about the arts. I’m a fan of your work too, your book was one of the best books I’ve read this decade. ”

“I appreciate art, but my perspective is different from yours because I’m not an actor. Isn’t that the great thing about art though: it means different things to different people, but it’s also universal?”

“I agree, it’s supposed to make people feel something, that’s why I don’t do mainstream stuff. It tends to be shallow.”

“I like modern interpretations of Shakespeare like your Hamlet. It’s timeless and universal.”

“I’ve never understood the allure of Shakespeare, he’s overrated and pretentious.” He states like it’s a known fact. You have to watch his reaction to see if he’s joking with you, but you see he’s being dead serious. And things were going so well until he dropped that bombshell opinion.

“He’s the greatest writer of all time. And what writer isn’t pretentious? Most of them are pretentious by default because through most of history a majority of the population couldn’t read or write so writers always represented the upper classes.”

“Okay I’ll admit that Shakespeare is good, he’s made a lasting impact or whatever. But he took works from others, and anytime you have to have a modern interpretation to understand the point, the writing probably isn’t as good as you thought.”

“He wasn’t pretentious in his time. When he wrote it, the people understood it. English has drastically changed in 500 years. He appeals because he used universal themes and timeless human emotions.” You can feel your anger rising, but you can’t help it. He’s was so stubborn, and resolute in his convictions.

“I still disagree. There are thousands of writers who do the same thing and don’t get the credit. But Shakespeare is untouchable because a lot of elitist academics think he is.”

“And the whole world should listen to you. Am I supposed to believe that all of the scholars who study Shakespeare and literature are wrong and you alone are the only one who is right? Who sounds pretentious now?”

“You’re sounding like an elitist. I’m curious, who’s your favorite author?”

“Okay I’ll play along, Dostoevsky or Fitzgerald.”

“That’s my point exactly.”

“Do you think Dostoevsky is pretentious too? He did not go through exile in Siberia to be insulted by some yuppie actor in modern day New York.”

“Did you seriously call me a yuppie?”

“I did.” You say as you raise your eyebrows and take an exaggerated drink from your cup. It added a dramatic flair to your comment, and you felt like you needed a drink with the way this conversation was going. Apparently your yuppie comment struck a nerve because Adam’s voice deepened when he responded, and his new tone was accusatory.

“I know what your problem is. You’re so used to being the smartest person in the room that you can’t fucking handle it when someone is just as smart as you. Because you feel that way, you assume you’re always right and you refuse to let anything go.” You can’t tell what makes you madder: his tone, or the fact he presumes to know everything about you, when he doesn’t. The nerve of him! You’re going to get him back from that comment, so you try to give him a low blow too.

“And I know what your problem is. You’re so used to playing the ‘starving’ artist, waxing poetically. Oh you poor tormented soul! You use it to excuse yourself from real responsibility and you think it makes you different, but really you’re just like everybody else.” You point your finger to emphasize your last point. You can’t tell if that was the worst conversation you’ve ever had, or one of the best conversations you’ve had in a long time.  You were somehow both infuriated by him and intrigued. You were a lawyer after all, maybe that’s why you weren’t totally put off by the argument, and a part of you actually liked it.

You become suddenly aware of how close you’re standing to him, you can count all of his freckles and can practically feel his breath. Assuming that he would move back, you stood your ground, but he remained still as his honey irises bored into yours. This was too much, you thought to yourself and willed yourself away. You grab your drink off the table and turn to leave. Adam looks like he’s going to say something, but instead he keeps a smug look on his face as you watches you walk away.

You then walk off to go congratulate Marnie on her great performance, even though you have be too distracted to listen to most of it. You presumed Adam would still be around after you’ve congratulated Marnie, and you’d have a chance to finish your chat. But when you got back to where you last saw Adam, he wasn’t there. You scanned the bar for him, and he was nowhere to be seen. You guessed you wouldn’t get to finish that talk.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I need to start new period dramas. Can you list your favs like which you recommend most? (Ive seen Reign) Thanks!

Sure!

Spartacus--set in Ancient Rome, obvious during the Third Servile War.  This is actually one of my top... five?  three? favorite shows of all time.  It deserves INTENSE trigger warnings for basically everything--gore, sexual violence, torture.  I will say that a lot of the general gladiatorial violence is purposefully over the top--originally because the show couldn’t afford realistic effects and they were like “fuck it, let’s go OTT and embrace it” and later because it basically was the Aesthetic.  Lots of slo mo and AAAARGGGGGHHHHs!!!!  Also a surprising amount of sensitivity towards the trauma the characters endure.  Like.  This is one of the only shows that I feel deals with trauma correctly for the majority of the characters.  They never really... “heal” in that unrealistic soft way.  But they do live.  It’s also surprisingly diverse, and the female characters are EXCELLENT, both the heroines and the villains.  The villains are so well-done too.  Well-developed without being portrayed as justified or excused.

Rome--set during the rules of the First and Second Triumvirates.  Definitely a “must watch” period piece.  It really set the tone for many that have followed, and few have matched or surpassed it.  It’s great drama, has one of the best female villains on TV of all time. I do really, really dislike its version of Cleopatra.  As a whole.  But I loooove its portrayal of Octavian and Antony, so--what’re you gonna do?

Vikings (season 1-2............................................ maybe season 3 in some spots though that’s still gotta fuck ton of issues)--set in early medieval Scandinavia.  Not a good show now, but I really loved it for the first couple of seasons and I think that those seasons, especially the first two, are still worth watching. Really, the ending of season 2 is quite final in a lot of ways.  So you could watch it like that?  Vikings was an extremely odd and trippy show in the first couple of seasons as well, which I enjoy seeing blended with its period piece setting.  It also has some really cool fight scenes and music.

Medici: The Magnificent--set in early-to-high Renaissance Florence.  Okay, so technically this is season 2 of Medici (the first season is called Medici: Masters of Florence) but season 1 frankly... sucks.  And season 2 has only one or two hold-over actors, and it’s set a couple of decades after season 1 ends.  It is, for all intents and purposes, a whole new show.  I love it.  This is a soapy show, and not every actor is greeeeat but Daniel Sharman is FANTASTIC in it, and so are the villains.  I really can’t emphasize how much I love Daniel Sharman in this role--and not just because he’s hot.  It’s also lovely to look at for the most part.  I really love the men’s costumes on this show too?  And the Pazzi Conspiracy is pretty well done.

The Borgias--set in High Renaissance Rome.  Oh, this show.  I loved it SO HARD once.  And I don’t anymore.  It’s very flawed.  But it’s fucking BEAUTIFUL in some scenes, and while it’s not the way I want the story of the Borgia family to be told, it does have some great moments, and some great performances for that matter.  (They should have let Francois Arnaud go Full Evil with Cesare, but whatever.)  It’s soapy.  There is an actual canonical incest pairing, and it’s played as totally romantic.  So heads up on that.  But this show did shape a part of me, so I can’t totally complain.

The Tudors--set in Renaissance/Reformation/post-Reformation England.  This show is so bad in some parts?  I still refuse to say that Jonathan Rhys Myers is putting on a good performance as Henry VIII. Because I don’t think it’s good acting.  But it’s like.  Entertaining.  There’s a scene where he’s like, trying to pole vault over a pond or something and he’s like “watch me lads this’ll be rad” and he just... ends up in the pond.  I think he gets sick and ends up screaming.  He does a lot of screaming.  But the women are very good in this!!!  Maria Doyle Kennedy and Natalie Dormer kill it in the first two seasons, and Tamzin Merchant is so good at playing up more than just the sexy lil thing role that this show wanted to give Katherine Howard.  She put a lot into fleshing her out.  I would say that the first two seasons are like, fun soapy shenanigans with a few genuinely good beats, and the last two are kinda dull except for when they relate to the downfall of Thomas Cromwell (who is very well played in this show) and Katherine Howard.

The White Queen/The White Princess--set during medieval England.  Do I recommend?  No.  No I do not.  Is it kind of incredibadly watchable at times?  Yes.  These loosely related minseries monstrosities are like, horrible feminism, horrible costuming, and occasionally really fucking good performances.  It’s about the Wars of the Roses (TWQ) and the early reign of Fuckboi In Leather Pants and A Pirate Shirt Henry VII.  Also, Richard III is a goth in this series.  There will be another installment, The Spanish Princess, once again with a whole new cast, very soon.  It will be about Catherine of Aragon.  Supposedly.

Versailles--set in 18th century France.  This does for Louis XIV what The Tudors did for Henry VIII.  But it’s marginally better because George Blagden is a better actor than JRM, and Louis XIV actually seems like he has a brain sometimes, and is generally an evil plotting cocker spaniel with his gay brother.  A typical episode of Versailles is basically Louis XIV having Somewhat Awkward Sexual Tension with said brother as they snipe at each other, until they agree to be friends and rule the French court through psychological manipulation.  Louis gives somewhat an absolutely withering glance.  They commit suicide before him.  Everyone is wearing a mask.  I mean, I have fun with it.  Though there is a VERY CRINGE STORYLINE in the beginning that is based on a VERY CRINGE LEGEND that always makes me hesitate to recommend it.

Alias Grace--set in 19th century Canada.  Essentially, this is a thriller and a period piece.  A doctor learns through a series of interviews about the heinous murders that Grace committed while a servant in a rich man’s house.  I really like this show’s exploration of class divides and women’s relationships with each other.  It’s preeeetty dark.

North and South--set in industrial England.  I always describe this as like...  Pride and Prejudice if Darcy had a more sexual vibe and was more working class, and if Elizabeth was tbh.............................. a bit dumber, if well-intentioned.  I love it.  The smoldering gazes.  The secretive glances.  The classic “woman rejects man’s marriage proposal, man is a broken husk” scene.  It’s great.

The Crown--set in twentieth century England-present.  This is one of the GREATEST DRAMAS EVER, frankly.  Like.  This show takes objectively petty arguments and turns them into something super epic and intense.  It’s all about the strength of the acting and the writing.  There is only one episode in the two (so far) seasons that disappointed me.  Plus, this show looks intensely expensive.  

Peaky Blinders--set in Post WWI Birmingham.  First two seasons ONLY.  But oh, they were great seasons of TV.  This show is about a crime family, and I absolutely love crime family dramas.  It also features Grace Burgess, one of my favorite characters ever.  She is a lady cop who sets out to seduce the main character, head of aforementioned crime family.  For The Law.  That is all.

Hopefully, this is a good starting point--ngl, most period pieces drop in quality after a couple seasons, so it’s hard to give a wholehearted recommendation.  

[jenmedsbookreviews]

Work, work, work. That’s the story of my life these days. Well, apart from Monday afternoon. I took that as annual leave. But the rest of the week was boring, uneventful and painfully long … This was all I had to show from a full day’s graft on Thursday. CAn you tell what it is? Me either.

Ah well. Pays the bills.

Monday afternoon was a bit of fun though. Quick (?) trip down to the City to attend First Monday Crime at City University. Quite the session this time with Craig Robertson, Tammy Cohen, CJ Tudor and Chris Carter. It was a really entertaining session even if one of Chris Carter’s crime scene stories left everyone feeling a little revolted. If you ever get the chance to head to one of the First Monday sessions I would absolutely recommend them as they’re a great evening of bookish talk with some fabulous people. Yes, I didn’t get home until 01:45 Tuesday morning, but I was actually more awake than I have been in a very long time when it came to going into work that morning. About right!

As I was in the presence of such fabulous authors it would have been a crime not to pick up a couple of books and get some squiggles while I was there. So I did. Far be it for me to break the law 😉 Picked up The Photographer by Craig Robertson and The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor, who was comepletely shell shocked by the whole evening.

Arrived home to more fabulous book post too, this time The Devil’s Dice by Roz Watkins. Thanks to Roz and publishers HQ for that. Love the dice that come with it. Also on Saturday I received a copy of Hold My Hand by MJ Ford from Avon, so a big thanks to Sabah Khan for that too.

Picked up a few books from Netgalley, again these were for blog tours so they’ll be gone in a few weeks. All Bookouture titles too. The Visitor by KL Slater;  The Babysitter by Sheryl Browne and Cold Heart by Stephen Edger.

Amazon wise I may have purchased and/or preordered a few books. As you do.

The Little Cottage on the Hill by Emma Davies; The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton; Come a Little Closer by Rachel Abbott and Perfect Silence by Helen Fields. Quite reserved for me.

Been quite productive from a reading point of view this week. Sort of. Nine books, well the best part of. Can’t complain at that. Two were Mr Men Dr Who books and one was a novella, but still – six regular books is still impressive.

Books I have Read

The Little Cottage on the Hill – Emma Davies

There’s blossom in the trees and daffodils as far as the eye can see. Maddie is looking forward to a fresh start in the countryside, but there’s just one little problem…

Following a scandal at her high-flying PR agency, twenty-six-year-old Maddie flees London to help promote what she thinks is going to be a luxurious holiday retreat in the countryside. Everything is riding on her making a success of this new job…

Yet when she arrives, Maddie is horrified to find a rundown old farm in a terrible state. The brooding and secretive owner, Seth, spent all his money on leasing the land when he fell in love with the beautiful, dishevelled farm cottages and the very romantic story behind them.

When Maddie discovers an old oil painting by the original owner’s wife, she unlocks the secret of the farm’s history and quickly realises she must start getting her hands dirty if this very special place is going to have any chance of survival. As she and Seth begin working together, the stunning view from the top of the hill is not the only thing that’s leaving her breathless…

After weeks of hard work the dream looks like it might become a reality, until a secret from Maddie’s past threatens to snatch it all away again. Can Maddie find a way to save the business and herself? Will she finally find a place to keep her heart within the crumbling walls of the little cottage on the hill?

Set in my native home county of Shropshire, when invited to take part in the blog tour, I couldn’t resist. A feel good romance and a cracking story as Maddie and Seth fight to save Seth’s home. You can preorder a copy here.

…

Come A Little Closer – Rachel Abbott

They will be coming soon. They come every night. 

Snow is falling softly as a young woman takes her last breath. 

Fifteen miles away, two women sit silently in a dark kitchen. They don’t speak, because there is nothing left to be said. 

Another woman boards a plane to escape the man who is trying to steal her life. But she will have to return, sooner or later. 

These strangers have one thing in common. They each made one bad choice – and now they have no choices left. Soon they won’t be strangers, they’ll be family…

When DCI Tom Douglas is called to the cold, lonely scene of a suspicious death, he is baffled. Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she get there? How many more must die? 

Who is controlling them, and how can they be stopped? 

Continuing the Tom Douglas series this sees Tom and team investigating the mysterious death of a young woman found at a remote beauty spot. Intertwined is the story of another young woman trying hard to escape from an abusive boyfriend with the help of some friends. Love this series so I’m thrilled to be involved in the blog tour once again. You can preorder a copy here.

…

Mr Men Dr Who – Dr Fifth – Adam Hargreaves

The greatest mash-up in the Whoniverse continues.

Doctor Who meets Roger Hargreaves’ Mr Men in this series of fun and charming stories, written and illustrated by Adam Hargreaves.

Join the fifth Doctor and friends, Nyssa, Adric and Tegan as they attempt to outwit the wily Master!

Who doesn’t love Mr Men/Dr Who mashups? Dr Fifth is a cracker of a book featuring my favourite Dr. Hard to review as my review will be longer than the book but you can order your own copy here.

…

Mr Men Dr Who – Dr Tenth – Adam Hargreaves

The greatest mash-up in the Whoniverse continues.

Doctor Who meets Roger Hargreaves’ Mr Men in this series of fun and charming stories, written and illustrated by Adam Hargreaves.

The tenth Doctor is taking a well-earned holiday – until the Sontarans show up! Can he stop the mighty warriors from invading yet another peaceful planet?

Dr Tenth. David Tennant as a Mr Man. No comment really. Loved this little story and I can almost hear David Tennant’s exasperation as I read. You can order your own copy here

…

This Is How It Ends – Eva Dolan

This is how it begins.

With a near-empty building, the inhabitants forced out of their homes by property developers.

With two women: idealistic, impassioned blogger Ella and seasoned campaigner, Molly.

With a body hidden in a lift shaft.

But how will it end?

A road trip to London on Wednesday let me clear this from by TBR by way of the audio book. A break away from her Peterborough set hate crimes series, this stand alone book is riveting and really makes you think. Set in the world of the protest movement, this is centered around a group trying to slow down the gentrification of London and save the people being priced out of the city. I’ll be sharing my thoughts soon and you can order your own copy here.

…

No Comment – Graham Smith

When a single mother, Julie Simon, is found in her kitchen with a stab wound to her stomach, Cumbria’s Major Crimes Team are handed the case.

Under the supervision of DI Campbell and with advice from his former DI, Harry Evans, DC Amir Bhaki fights to discover who assaulted an innocent woman and left her with life-threatening injuries.

​Nothing is as it first appears and when the team looks into Julie’s life they uncover a hidden sex-life that may just hold the key to the identity of her attacker.

This is a novella from the DI Harry Evan stable. My first Harry Evans book but not my last and packs quite the punch for such a short story. Preorder links will be available soon.

…

The Last Laugh – Tracy Bloom

‘I’ve googled it, how to die,’ Jenny says to Maureen. ‘It was full of climbing this mountain, swimming that sea, becoming a marathon runner and raising millions for charity.’

‘Sounds like bloody hard work. You can make it more fun than that surely?’

Jenny discovers her days are numbered at the same time she discovers her husband is having an affair… 

Frankly, her life was tough enough already. Two tricky teenagers, her mother’s constant complaints, friends who aren’t up to the job and a career which has been spiralling downwards since she won ‘Sunseeker Tour Rep of the Season’ twenty years ago. 

And now this: a cheating husband and a death sentence.

Enough is enough. Jenny vows to keep both catastrophes a secret. She takes her life – and death – into her own hands and decides to live as she did when she was happiest… in 1996. She plans a spectacular 1990s themed party in place of a wake that she herself will attend. But will she be able to keep her secrets for long enough to have the party of a lifetime? 

Poignant and also funny, this is a great look at how the big ‘C’ diagnosis can impact upon our lives and the story of one woman’s reluctant acceptance of her fate. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the blog tour soon and in the meantime you can order yourselves a copy here.

…

Before I Let You Go – Kelly Rimmer

Your sister needs you. But her child needs you more…  The 2:00 a.m. call is the first time Lexie Vidler has heard her sister’s voice in years. Annie is a drug addict, a thief, a liar-and in trouble, again. Lexie has always bailed Annie out, given her money, a place to sleep, sent her to every kind of rehab. But this time, she’s not just strung out-she’s pregnant and in premature labor. If she goes to the hospital, she’ll lose custody of her baby-maybe even go to prison. But the alternative is unthinkable.

As weeks unfold, Lexie finds herself caring for her fragile newborn niece while her carefully ordered life is collapsing around her. She’s in danger of losing her job, and her fiancé only has so much patience for Annie’s drama. In court-ordered rehab, Annie attempts to halt her downward spiral by confronting long-buried secrets from the sisters’ childhood, ghosts that Lexie doesn’t want to face. But will the journey heal Annie, or lead her down a darker path?

Both candid and compassionate, Before I Let You Go explores a hotly divisive topic and asks how far the ties of family love can be stretched before they finally break.

Kelly Rimmer’s books never fail to move me. Some are out and out tear jerkers, others, such as this one, are ones which will break your heart and make you grateful for family, while silently shedding a tear for all that is lost here. Such a great story. You can preorder a copy here.

…

The Pact – SE Lynes

You made a promise to your sister. It could destroy your daughter. 

The Daughter  15-year-old Rosie lies in hospital fighting for her life. She’s trying to tell her mother what happened to her, and how she got there, but she can’t speak the words out loud. 

The Mother Rosie’s mother Toni has a secret. She had a traumatic childhood, and she and her sister Bridget made each other a promise thirty years ago: that they could never speak the truth about what they went through as children, and that they would protect each other without asking for help from others, no matter what…

Rosie was Toni’s second chance to get things right: a happy, talented girl with her whole life ahead of her. Having lost her husband in a tragic accident, Toni has dedicated her life to keeping Rosie safe from harm. 

But Rosie has plans that her mother doesn’t know about. She has dreams and ambitions – of love, of a career, of a life beyond the sheltered existence that her mother has created for her. But the secrets Rosie has been keeping have now put her life in danger. 

The Pact In order to save Rosie, Toni may have to break her lifelong promise to her sister… and open doors to her past she hoped would remain closed forever. 

Another blog tour review and another blinder from the Bookouture stable. This is the first book by author SE Lynes that I;ve read but won’t be the last. I’ll be sharing my thoughts in a couple of weeks but you can preorder your own copy of the book right here.

…

Long week, lots of books. Sorry about that. Busy ish week on the blog too with posts from Tuesday to Saturday. You can catch up on any you missed on the links below.

Review: Perfect Remains by Helen Fields

Review: Killed by Thomas Enger

Review: Perfect Prey by Helen Fields

Review: Blue Night by Simone Buchholz

Review: The Lying Kind by Alison James

For the week ahead I’m taking it a lot easier. Two blog tours, Perfect Death today and The Reunion tomorrow, then just a few reviews through to the weekend. Plenty more reading time for me then.

I’ve a pretty dull week ahead too. I’m doing a joint presentation to our Senior Management Team as this post goes out. Dangerous Goods. Very exciting. Not. Then pretty much tied up in paperwork for the rest of the week. Still. COuld be worse. Less than two weeks to Granite Noir now. Cannot wait.

Hope you all have a fabulously bookish week.

Jen

  Rewind, recap: Weekly update w/e 11/02/18 Work, work, work. That's the story of my life these days. Well, apart from Monday afternoon. I took that as annual leave.