Blood, Sex and Royalty Review: Netflix, Period Drama

This three-part docudrama series exceeded my expectations. I assumed that it was going to be one of those shows that recreate pointless reconstruction of key moments in history with actors being embarrassed to be there, in costumes and the acting slightly better than an amateur production. Generally thought that it was just going to be a bad docuseries.

Oh, how I was completely wrong. The way they added the drama to it was intelligent, vivid, and hilarious and the performances from every single actor were outstanding. Amy James Kelly who played Anne was superior and making the much maligned historical figure of Boleyn credible. It was interesting to see the mother of probably England's greatest monarch, Elizabeth 1st. By representing Anne in her political complexity it revealed the person not just the woman who stole Henry and moved England away from the pope.

The director James Bryce and writers Jillian Mannion, Francesca Forristal, Yero Timi-Biu build great portraits of the characters and the relationships that could save or break them as the series goes on.

Embedded in the scenes surrounded by the explanations and expansions provided by the likes of historians, professors, and doctors Tracy Borman and Suzannah Lipscomb. There were others that gave the audience brilliant evocations of huge chunks of knowledge. As the audience, you really do learn a lot about the history of Anne Boleyn even though it’s a period drama.

I would imagine that Purists and Luddites will definitely complain about this as it is a feminist interpretation of Anne with her modern belief in instincts emphasised (with her wide range of reading and pro-Tyndale).

In Blood, Sex and Royalty Anne is made a schemer rather than a sorceress. King Henry VIII, played by Max Parker, still portrayed him as self centred as all he really cared about is wanting a son to keep the Tudor line.

The series does manage to pack in a lot of different variety of experts but has left a lot of the history out. However, on its own series, it’s stupendous.

Throughout the series there are lots of factual and fictional counterparts where there is strong thread supporting each other instead cancelling each other out which does complement the docuseries a lot.

It might not be your cup of tea but you will be pleasantly surprised.

Netflix should have made this into a six part series. they also need to make a season 2 as it does link to it very well to the next two queens.