My Lady Jane, set in Tudor England, is the latest historical drama from Amazon Prime and retells the story of the infamous ‘nine-day’ Queen Lady Jane Grey, giving her the ending she deserved, rather that the one she got.
Released today, the eight-episode historical drama created by Gemma Burgess is a comic retelling on what might have been if Jane hadn’t been executed nine days into her reign, and is designed to appeal to fans of Bridgerton.
The real Lady Jane was just 16 when she became Queen of England, forced onto the throne by her ambitious father-in-law and then savagely beheaded by Queen Mary when she came to claim the throne.
Lady Jane Grey’s memory was immortalised by Paul Delaroche’s famous 1833 painting depicting her execution, which paints the young woman as pure and defenceless in an angelic white gown.
My Lady Jane, set in Tudor England and staring Emily Bader and Edward Bluemel (pictured) retells the story of the infamous ‘nine-day’ Queen, Lady Jane Grey
Jasper Reeves at The Telegraph calls it a ‘sweary, sexed-up Wolf Hall’
Lady Jane’s sister Katherine Grey is also a central character in the show
Based on the best-selling novel by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows, My Lady Jane reimagines the well-known story, with a feisty heroine who escapes her cruel fate of becoming an eternal ‘damsel in distress’, instead going on to be ‘the ruler England needed’ – as we hear from a voiceover in the opening credits.
Californian actor Emily Bader takes the lead as Lady Jane Grey, with critics comparing her to Jenna Colman’s Queen Victoria due to her witty and assured tone.
While this Tudor romp clearly has no regard for being factually accurate, critics have been pleasantly surprised by the Prime show, praising its dark humour and steamy sex scenes to rival Bridgerton‘s.
Jasper Reeves at The Telegraph calls it a ‘sweary, sexed-up Wolf Hall’, saying that by combining a ‘bouncy Alice in Wonderland vibe’ with ‘plentiful softcore sex’ and a ‘rocking soundtrack’ My Lady Jane is the escapism we all mean.
My Lady Jane’s romantic interest is the notorious rake Guildford Dudley, played by Sex Education’s Edward Bluemel.
‘Let’s call a spade a spade,’ Edward Bluemel told Tatler. ‘There’s a lot of steamy sex.’
In the same interview, California-born actor Bader explained the heightened chemistry between Jane and Edward, explaining, ‘He infuriates her, but she’s infatuated by him – which I think is deeply sexy’.
Based on the best-selling novel by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows, My Lady Jane reimagines the well-known story, with a feisty heroine who escapes her cruel fate of becoming an eternal ‘damsel in distress’
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California-born actor Emily Bader explained the heightened chemistry between Jane and Edward is due to that, ‘He infuriates her, but she’s infatuated by him’
Jordan Peters stars as King Edward VI with a love affair of his own
It’s clear from the beginning that sex is a central part of the show, with the synopsis reading: ‘Are you ready for an epic tale of true love, high adventure, regicidal maniacs, deadpan heroism, devious intrigues, swashbuckling swordfights, a soupçon of magical realism and oodles of sex? Of course you are’.
The show has also been well reviewed by Aramide Tinubu for Variety, who calls the show a ‘masterful retelling’, which is ‘bursting with delightful expletives, iconic one-liners and a whole array of death plots and schemes, unveils an alternative universe where women (and some men) have the agency to gain control of their lives’.
Meanwhile, Lacy Mangan at The Guardian says ‘It’s a wild, fun bit of escapism – perfect summer viewing’.
Before concluding: ‘It remains a decidedly odd concept, to take a little known historical event, mess it up and add magic animals [referring to the mythological ‘Ethians’ that some humans can shape-shift into]. But it works by throwing its whole heart into the endeavour.’
In a 2018 interview with Publisher’s Weekly, author My Lady Jane author Cynthia Hand spoke about the inspiration behind reclaiming Jane’s heartbreaking Tudor-dynasty story.
She explained: ‘I wanted to write a novel about Lady Jane Grey, who was a strong-willed, bookish teenage girl in 16th-century England.
‘She had the misfortune to become Queen, but only for nine days and then had her head chopped off. I always loved studying Jane Grey’s story in history except for the ending. So, I thought, ‘Hey, I’m a writer. I can give her a different ending.’
