The White Queen

"The White Queen" is an interesting series, generally based on the time during the War of Roses.  Max Irons convincingly portrayed King Edward IV as fair and generally benevolent (at least in the beginning of the series); and James Frain contrastingly portrayed well an evil, greedy, and thoroughly unlikeable Lord Warwick (except in one scene where he kneeled before his wife as he said his goodbye headed back to lead an overthrow in England).  Aneurin Barnard also gives a good portrayal of Richard, who seems to be the York brother with the most character.  The show captured well the turbulent power struggles and strange alliances.   While Henry Tudor is only a boy in the start of this show; there must inevitably be comparisons to "The Tudors" series.  There are similarities in that the shows are a portrayal of the royal families in England.  Both shows have an abundance of beautiful and good looking actors and actresses; and both also have interesting stories generally based on history.   In terms of acting; both shows are done well.   The main difference would be in the perspectives, that of the women in "The White Queen" versus that mainly of just the king in "The Tudors".    However, there were still strong women characters in both.  It is difficult to determine which is the "better" show; though, "The Tudors" seems to have enjoyed much greater success.

7-Feb:  It is disappointing that as the series progresses, the show becomes less captivating.  Many of the characters do not stay consistent, and they begin to lose integrity, particularly King Edward.  George is not as convincing or intelligent an "enemy" as Lord Warwick.

8-Feb:  I finished the series, and the Red Queen prevailed, with her son Henry being crowned.   Not that it was a surprise, for it was an historical fact.   It is interesting that it appears that this series followed history fairly closely.  One thing that can be said for the Red Queen... she was consistent throughout the show, and one cannot help but somewhat respect her for her faith and piety that she held onto so tenaciously.  It was sad to see all the deaths along the way throughout the series; but, overall, it was still an interesting series to watch.