The White Queen Review 2 | The Burger King Wants His Crown Back

Monday 24 June 2013
Sunday night now means two things in our house - the end of the weekend and another episode of BBC's drama series, The White Queen. However it appears The War of the Roses drama has not kept hold of all its fans as last night's episode saw a drop in nearly 900k viewers according to Digital Spy. Don't cry yet BBC One, it was still one of the most-watched shows of the night!

In last night's episode "The Price of Power" it is now 1465 and Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Ferguson) is about to be crowned Queen Elizabeth of England. The coronation is an extravagant occasion designed to silence critics of their marriage, although their loudest critics (Lord Warwick and Duchess Cecily) aren't easily persuaded. In fact the good old queen mother, Duchess Cecily, doesn't even attend! Like I said in my previous review, she's the mother-in-law from hell!

Elizabeth is crowned Queen Consort of England
facebook.com/WhiteQueenBBC

Now Edward IV (Max Irons) and Elizabeth need a son to secure their reign. The line "What's the point of being king if I cannot have you naked all day." will remain firmly ingrained in my memory for days to come. Unfortunately this episode doesn't focus on Edward and Elizabeth's baby-making exploits (Edward IV had ten children by Elizabeth Woodville) but the tensions at court that escalate into outright war.



Remember you can catch up with episode 2 of The White Queen on BBC iPlayer! You might want to do so before reading any further, as here in my weekly recap of the top 5 unmissable things from last night's The White Queen episode.

5. Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville got their crowns from Burger King. Overall I love the costumes and set design of The White Queen. Yes, it's too clean to be realistic but who wants realism when watching historical period dramas anyway! However, I can't be the only one who noticed during the coronation that Edward IV and Elizabeth's crowns looked like they'd just gone through the Burger King drive-thru and picked up two kids meals. I mean seriously, I expected that creepy king to come bursting onto the set demanding his crown back!

Behind the scenes of The White Queen episode 2 - Max Irons and Rebecca Ferguson film the coronation scenes.
facebook.com/BBCOne

4. Return of Princess Leia Hair. Princess Leia's hair buns are pretty much as iconic as the Star Wars films themselves. Whenever you get a Star Wars parody I think Princess Leia's hair is one of the first things to be mocked, with her hair often being replaced by donuts. I'm pretty sure Carrie Fisher is still cursing George Lucas for that one. Imagine my surprise when Lady Jacquetta Rivers (Janet McTeer) walked on the screen sporting the exact same do! I think there needs to be a "Who Wore It Best?" segment in some magazine!

Princess Leia v Lady Jacquetta Rivers
Princess Leia v. Lady Jacquetta Rivers

3. A random puppet show from the kingmaker's daughters. In this episode of The White Queen we begin to explore the other characters a bit more including Lord Warwick's daughters, Isabel Neville and Anne Neville. Isabel is portrayed as a bit of a brat heavily influenced by her father's beliefs. Anne as the sweet and naïve one with a bit of a crush on Richard, Edward IV's youngest brother. Then Anne asks Isabel to once again tell her the story of the "Ice Queen" which Isabel does using shadow puppets. I assume this was written in to show first the Isabel really isn't all bad and is quite loving towards her sister and to give some background on the war in a "clever" way. However this display of shadow puppetry just didn't work for me.

2. The Earl of Warwick throws his dolly out of the pram. Poor Lord Warwick, things just didn't go his way this episode. First Edward didn't listen to him and had Elizabeth crowned Queen any way. The peace treaty from France that he had been working on for two years went to pot. His wish that his girls would marry Edward IV's brothers, George and Richard, are denied. You can't really blame the guy for being just a tad bit angry. Still it was bit excessive really to all of a sudden claim Edward IV a bastard child and start a war. I think Lord Warwick needs to be put in time out!

James Frain as Lord Warwick
facebook.com/WhiteQueenBBC

1. A vision from God that appeared more like an orgasm. The Twitter-sphere went crazy last night when Lady Margaret Beaufort (Amanda Hale), a devout woman and Lancasterian, has her vision from God that her son Henry Tudor is destined to be on the throne. She made faces and moaned like a woman in the throes of passion. One couldn't help but giggle. I don't remember hearing of any other godly visions occurring in such a way. Lady Margaret then goes on to tell her son that God has told her that someday he will be king. Young Henry Tudor does in fact go on to become King Henry VII. He actually marries Elizabeth of York (the eldest daughter of Edward VI and Elizabeth), ending once and for all The War of the Roses. Yes the vision comes true but that doesn't stop Lady Margaret Beaufort from being absolutely bat-shit crazy!

Lady Margaret Beaufort played by Amanda Hale in The White Queen
Source


Q: What was your favourite part of The White Queen this week? Do you like Lord Warwick? Lady Margaret? And most importantly... who wore it best - Princess Leia or Lady Rivers?

Erin x


Order your copy of The White Queen from
Quintessentially English's Amazon Associates Store.

6 comments:

  1. Unknown said...:

    I like want to love the hairstyles in this show...and then I can't. Its like they almost hit it on the head and then something went a little wrong in the hairdressing department. Then again I've been watching Game of Thrones and I really love all the ornate hairstyles in that show better.

  1. I think that's a problem The White Queen is facing, a lot of people are comparing it to Game of Thrones. Which to be fair I've only seen the first few episodes (we don't have Sky) Stop comparing it to Game of Thrones and think of it on it's own and I think you'll enjoy it a lot more.

  1. Unknown said...:

    I can't say that was the most exciting promo for a TV show (still used to the American flare - Guns! Firworks! Violence! Sex!), but you won me over with your writing. i will have to check it out...

  1. Thanks Ebe for your comment, it brought a big smile to my face! I'm glad you enjoy my writing. I hope you do check it out, I think The White Queen is certainly worth a watch!

    Erin x

  1. Kate said...:

    "in the throws of passion. One couldn't help but giggle. I don't remember hearing of any other godly visions occurring in such a way"

    Its "throes" not "throws". And religious ecstasy is well documented (see "secret rapture" and some of the more lurid accounts of female saints)

    I agree that its funny though. How many times is Edward going to ride along that cornfield? I keep hearing the theme tune from "Blackadder"...

  1. Ohh thanks, stupid spelling mistake on my part! Must go fix it now!

    And quite clearly all of "England" was a cornfield back in the 1400s. I've heard a couple of people compare it to Blackadder and now I have that image of Edward riding through the cornfield with that theme tune stuck in my head!

    Erin x

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment on my blog! I love receiving them, good and bad, so please don't be shy!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...