Historical fiction with one hell of a twist, My Lady Jane shifts Tudor intrigue into the world of fantasy
“History remembers her as the ultimate damsel in distress
Fuck that”
I’d assumed that My Lady Jane was part of the trend for the raucous reimagining of historical narratives (à la Mary & George, Becoming Elizabeth, The Serpent Queen and more) but I wasn’t prepared for just how riotous it would get. Adapted by Gemma Burgess from a novel by Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton, and Cynthia Hand, it is set in an alternate 16th-century England so whilst some things are familiar, a lot is wildly different.
In this world, Edward VI didn’t die as a boy but though he’s survived into adulthood, he’s still ailing so he’s secretly named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir. A studious and independently minded young woman, she’s furious at the patriarchal system that means her father’s death results in a great-uncle inheriting the family estate and her mother trying to coerce her into marriage with Lord Guildford Dudley to save all their fortunes.
But, and this counts as a spoiler, he’s a shapeshifter who spends half his time as a horse and he’s not alone. These people are called Ethians, humans who can take animal form; those not blessed with this talent are known as Verity, and their intolerance of Ethians has forced them out of regular society. There’s allusions here to the Catholic/Protestant divide of the time but it isn’t heavily pressed, it’s its own story strand that proves a key narrative driver over these eight episodes.
Emily Bader as Jane and Edward Bluemel as Dudley are an appealing leading pair, both initially unwilling in the marriage but both succumbing to a growing passion between them. But the real joy comes in a corking supporting cast. Anna Chancellor as Jane’s scheming mother, Dominic Cooper as a malevolent Lord Seymour who is kinkily under the thumb of Kate O’Flynn’s outrageous Princess Mary and Oliver Chris in a fruitily rich voiceover role as the narrating Author.
It’s all very tongue-in-cheek but fully commits to the bit, as you have to when you introduce such a huge fantasy element as this, and I found it all really rather watchable. It’s a fresh take on a period of history that is often visited in fiction but by focusing on Lady Jane Grey and asking what if…, it’s unpredictable in the paths it takes. Naturally it has already been cancelled so there’s no second season to come but it is enjoyable in and of itself with a suitable bookend.
