A rare foray into English Jacobean history as Mary Villiers plots and cajoles the moulding of her son George to the court and become the lover of King James I.
On the death of heavily-in-debt husband Sir George Villiers (Simon Russell Beale), Mary (a splendid Julianne Moore) finds herself and adult children penniless and without a home. Manipulation and a proposal hard to refuse, the coarse and uncouth Sir Thomas Compton (Sean Gilder) agrees to marry Mary and pays for George (Nicholas Galitzine) to attend the equivalent of a finishing school in France.
With a new home for her base, intrigue aplenty by Mary follows as she looks to secure a court position for her second son on his return to England. Eldest son John (Tom Victor) with his parlous mental state is a lost cause. The main obstacle for Mary is the Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson) who has shared the king’s bed for many years.
But Mary has two advantages – Queen Anne (Trine Dyrholm) is tired of Somerset’s arrogance and many of the court also despise Somerset. As James I (Tony Curran), the king rules England. But as James VI, he is also King of Scotland. Son of the beheaded Mary, Queen of Scots he succeeded to the English throne on the death of the childless Elizabeth I. Suspicious of the English court, James surrounds himself with fellow Scots and rewards loyalty with money and titles. Somerset, the king’s favourite, is one such beneficiary. The likes of privy council members Sir Edward Coke (Adrian Rawlins) and Sir Francis Bacon (Mark O’Halloran) are less than happy. Surreptitiously, help for Mary is forthcoming.
Audacious and entertaining, this historical psychodrama finds no holes barred as court protocol and manners are shredded over the seven part miniseries. Nudity and profanity is in abundance as hedonism reigns supreme at court resulting in a romp in extremis and which will undoubtedly upset and offend many. But Julianne Moore is at her devious best as an arch manipulator and tactician who not only gets her way, but destroys virtually all who stand in that way. Even the not-so-bright George is not adverse to being put in his place by the schemes of his mother, by now Lady Buckingham, as her successes begat further successes. George may be the all-powerful lover of James, but he still needs guidance from mom. Sadly, it’s Nicholas Galitzine who is the weak link in Mary & George – an unconvincing petulant, pig-headed, privileged Eton schoolboy-type courtier with little charm and even less deep-seated deviousness to win favour above the other jockeying pretty boys at court.
But it remains lewd, wicked and a lot of fun based loosely on true events.
Rating: 68%
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