The story of king James I and his male favorites is probably not a familiar one for most people (including me), so this mini series is as well informative, as original. But there's more to enjoy: it has a good pace, some surprisingly steamy and daring (same-) sex scenes, the settings and costumes are beautiful, and the acting of almost all of the cast is great, especially that of Julianne Moore. I'm not always a Moore fan, at times she can be so dominant in a production that it turns into a Julianne Moore show (like in the 2021 miniseries "Lisey's Story"), but here she's absolutely excellent as the authoritative, scheming mother who'll do anything to promote her son's (and her own) position.
I was slightly disappointed with the part of Nicholas Galitzine, he acted (or was made to act) as an insecure upstart through all of the seven episodes. That was maybe realistic in his first encounters with the king and the court, but surely, after several years as Duke of Buckingham, residing in the highest ranks of the kingdom, he would have gained some self-composure and authority; his continuous awkwardness just didn't feel realistic.
As always in history-based movies, there's some juggling with the historical facts, and the way king James comes to his end in the last episode is definitely fictional, but it fits the story fine. It was a pity however, that after that the story rushed in hardly 10 minutes to a totally abrupt ending, with a sudden leap in time of some 3 years, and without any information of how we got to that point (like for instance how the relation between George and the new king Charles developed). It felt a bit as if the writers had gotten weary, or the budget ran dry.
But for the rest: absolutely worthwhile!
I was slightly disappointed with the part of Nicholas Galitzine, he acted (or was made to act) as an insecure upstart through all of the seven episodes. That was maybe realistic in his first encounters with the king and the court, but surely, after several years as Duke of Buckingham, residing in the highest ranks of the kingdom, he would have gained some self-composure and authority; his continuous awkwardness just didn't feel realistic.
As always in history-based movies, there's some juggling with the historical facts, and the way king James comes to his end in the last episode is definitely fictional, but it fits the story fine. It was a pity however, that after that the story rushed in hardly 10 minutes to a totally abrupt ending, with a sudden leap in time of some 3 years, and without any information of how we got to that point (like for instance how the relation between George and the new king Charles developed). It felt a bit as if the writers had gotten weary, or the budget ran dry.
But for the rest: absolutely worthwhile!