Tudor Historian Reacts to Becoming Elizabeth 

I would pay good money to see Mary (this Mary) have her own series. She was so good in this. Finally someone has done Mary some justice and not just portrayed her as a nutcase.

I loved the portrayal of Mary. I wanted more of that. I didn't care for the Elizabeth they created.

I’m devastated this show is canceled. I am dying to watch Mary’s full story and reign

I wholeheartedly agree with you that them portraying Elizabeth as enjoying Thomas Seymour’s advances made me deeply uncomfortable. She may have been flattered by his attentions at first but, as you pointed out, it soon becomes clear that she no longer enjoyed it and wanted Seymour to stay away from her. I was disappointed when the show didn’t take this angle. I also agree that Mary was FANTASTIC and the true star of the show! Romola Garai was an absolute wonder to witness as Mary. SO wish we could have seen her as queen! I also really loved seeing young Robert Dudley and having his portrayed as this idealistic almost bumbling sort of youth. I would have so loved to see how they would have tackled him dealing with the grief of losing most of his family and then becoming more ambitious, confident and audacious. But alas, no season 2! 😭

I loved Ramola as Princess Mary! I wish we could've gotten the series dedicated to her, from her idyllic childhood with her mother, her unhappy adolescence with the Anne Boleyn Drama, and then her adult life with Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr! At least 2 seasons' worth of ground to cover, IMHO! Call it The English Princess or Becoming Mary! Well, we can dream!

Thank you for a beautiful and heart felt review of Becoming Elizabeth. I too loved the portrait of Mary. She even looked as she may have done. The actress was brilliant. All the acting was good, but it falls down in some of the uncomfortable scenes. I do believe Elizabeth had a crush on Thomas Seymour, but didn't invite his advances. He apparently asked Elizabeth and Jane to marry him before Kate Parr. The dynamics are brilliant between Edward the Brat and Mary the Superhero. 🤣. I think a trick here and there was missed. I would have loved a second season despite the pit falls.

I wish so much that we were getting a couple more seasons of "Becoming Elizabeth"!! The acting and writing were just so, so good, and I would have liked to see the innocent girl of Season I grow up into the Elizabeth we know and love. (Except, like you, I find it hard to believe Elizabeth was ever quite as naive as she's portrayed here. Poor child had to grow up fast, losing her mother at such a young age, and I think that the loss of her mother at the hands of her father was the real formative trauma of her life, not the business with Seymour later on, awful as that was.)

I agree regarding Mary, her portrayal was absolutely amazing. As you said, I'd love to see the reign of Mary, that would be something else!

I agree that Mary was brilliantly done and so enjoyable to watch but my personal favourite character on the show was actually Edward VI. I think it’s because, whereas with Mary the media had already hyped the in-depth exploration of her character in this show so I was mentally prepared for Romola’s excellent portrayal, I hadn’t given much thought to Edward since in Tudor dramas he’s usually either just a kid existing or a dying teenager. We rarely (or maybe even never? I’m not sure) see the early years of his reign portrayed onscreen and I found him such a fascinating and immensely entertaining character. And Oliver’s performance was soooo good that I always looked forward to his scenes because they were just an utter joy to watch! Especially the scene in the finale at the masquerade which paralleled Edward Seymour’s execution! That kid is going places! I was so bummed when the show was cancelled because I really wanted to see more of Edward & Mary both as individual characters and as siblings. I also loved John Heffernan as Edward Seymour, which came as a surprise to me because I didn’t care much for his character before the show either. I don’t know how historically accurate the writing for him was (Maybe you could shed some light on that) but I liked his storyline and acting wise he was superb. Thom*s Seymour made me wanna gag 🤢 "Whatever kind of man he might be before or after...well after he's gonna die" 🤣🤣 The scene you discussed at the beginning of the review (And all the Elizabeth-Thomas Seymour scenes in general) was extremely uncomfortable to watch. I know they said that the show is "from the perspective of the grooming victim who isn't aware that what's happening is wrong" but I don't think they quite succeeded in making it look that way. I'm not going to get into the details of this because it's a very sensitive subject and slippery slope and I fear that I might fail to convey in words exactly what I thought went wrong with that dynamic. The only Thomas Seymour scenes I found interesting where the ones he shared with his brother. I wish they had given more time to that relationship. Finally we come to the titular character and ironically the most disappointing part of the show. I’m sorry, I do hate to be mean but BE’s Elizabeth had ZERO likeability. She was just plain annoying to me, and like you said "a bit naïve, almost borderline stupid" I mean yeah I get that she was 13-14 but she was the daughter of THE Anne Boleyn and she’d been through A LOT by that point which undoubtedly had made her mature and develop political skills/acumen earlier than other girls her age. Her scenes were a pain to get through. I've babbled on for too long so I think I'll stop here 😂 As always, thank you so much for yet another wonderful video

I was so sad when this series was cancelled, I loved it so much

It was so disappointing that Starz didn't renew the show due to ratings (before they even gave it a fair chance to catch on). There was so much more to explore with all of the characters who survived the first season.

One thing I liked about this one was the fact that it focuses on the Tudors after Henry viii. Usually you get a Tudor centric media, That’s what you get, Henry viii and his wives. If it’s not about that, it’s about the reign of Elizabeth. We don’t really get to see those years between death of Henry viii and the reign of Elizabeth. It is thought of now, with some people that Catherine sent Elizabeth away to protect her rather than jealousy and I think that the show should have gone that route than the loving stepmother who suddenly becomes jealous

My own impression of Elizabeth’s personality and character, based on what I have read of her own word, her own actions, the words of her contemporaries - Elizabeth was very private. I doubt even closest to her ever knew what she thought or felt really. How many times she would give a signal that could be read two totally opposite ways? She was always on the edge, even at times during her reign. She didn’t know what could come out of this entire situation with Seymour. She knew very well the Seymour family influence at court and with her brother, the king. So, she didn’t say yes or no. She left signals that could be interpreted later to her benefit (however the situation would end). And I think she may have elected playing naive, or weak, or dumb whatever served her at the moment. She was strong inside. She analyzed her situation, seemingly, quite correctly. She knew well she could die on the scaffold any time. And she did all she had to ensuring her own survival.

I too loved the concept of this production. Thinking about what her daily life would have been like thru all the changes over the years is fascinating. But I hated how much screen time they gave to the Thomas Seymour story line. I was looking forward to the next season without him! But I loved how they portrayed Mary. The show could have been called Becoming Mary as you clearly see her development, good and bad.

I agree with some of the points you make, but I don't think the show deserved to be renewed. It failed at fulfilling its promise. It was called "Becoming Elizabeth", but Elizabeth featured only as a naive bystander in what should have been titled "Becoming Mary". For all the good work they did with Mary and Edward, the scriptwriters destroyed Elizabeth's character (where was the young girl outwitting Tyrwitt's interrogations, where was the nascent politician playing the role of the ultra protestant that her brother wanted)......and they also did wrong with Katherine Parr (where was the first ever published English female author). The scriptwriters also managed to make Thomas Seymour look like a lost soul rather than a calculating predator. The charisma that Romola Garai brings to all her roles kept the audience watching.

I don't like how they made Lady Jane as some kind of scoundrel. I've never heard that she was

I *knew* that Mary would be your favorite! I watched this show when it originally aired and was pretty happy for the most part. I thought that the portrayal of young Edward was so very interesting. I do not know much about his personality, but in this show, he really came across as his father's son. But, back to Mary. I have always thought that portrayals of her were quite skewed and written by those who favored Elizabeth. Both sisters had traumatic childhoods, both feared for their lives multiple times, but poor Mary is always the one who comes out as a one dimensional woman. Thank you for a wonderful video.

Edward was my favorite. I didn't like him but at the same time I loved him. He and Mary looked literally AMAZING. Anyway, he was very impressive. I liked the dynamic between him and his sisters. It was definitely refreshing from shows like the Tudors and stuff.Also Catherine Parr's actress was stunning so extra point! Thomas Seymour sucked though

Just fyi plenty of incest victims pretend to like it or “let it happen” or dissociate and seem to be fine, because they are traumatized and have no where to go. They don’t want to make their abuser angry. This still does not mean it was consensual.. she was a young teenager.

The scene with Elizabeth and Mary, were Mary refers to them both being Tudors but totally opposite: Setting this in that long staircase was quite symbolic. Showing rising and falling in terms of standing in the court. It was also in another scene where Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey pass each other on the staircase.

The thing as a girl who was put in uncomfortable situations (nothing nearly as bad) by people I didn’t even like, I still found it extremely difficult to say or do anything or act in a way that showed just how deeply uncomfortable I was and I never reported the incidents afterward, so I can definitely imagine how hard it could have been for a teenager who was groomed by her guardian and the husband of the stepmother who largely raised her.

I liked the portrayal of Edward, not many dramas focus on his reign and liked how he had a fiery temper as much as his father!

I'll have to try and find this series. I enjoy Tudor history, I think it goes back to watching Keith Michell and Glenda Jackson on TV when I was a teenager and that carried into reading history and loving the Tudor period. I enjoyed this. Glad I came across your channel and looking forward to watching more of your videos. Thank you

This isn't really related to the show, but is it just me or would Jessica Raine have made a better Anne Boleyn than Catherine Parr (in terms of appearance). She also played Jane Boleyn in Wolf Hall, but looks more like Anne than Claire Foy in my opinion, although Claire Foy did a great job!

Thank you so much for everything you said. It was 1000% spot on. You said everything I loved and challenged me about the show. Mary was awesome. Elizabeth was written disappointedly naive and stupid.

The actor playing Edward is fixed in my mind as a visible reference for what King Edward V might have looked like. What in the name of all the gods together is Elizabeth running around with her hair uncovered so much of the time? I wish they had shown that Thomas Seymour very probably frightened Elizabeth, particularly when he began finding ways to be in her presence without her stepmother or her governess. He was so much older than she was, and so clearly pursuing her in a way that I can't imagine made her comfortable when he began to push so far beyond what could be called 'play'. Elizabeth was a child, not a grown woman. Bella Ramsey was very interesting as Lady Jane Grey. I would like to see them in that role again. Mary was *fantastic*.

Another brilliant video and many congratulations for hitting the 1K subs. Well done Elle 🎉👏

While I wasn’t all that impressed with the choices for Elizabeth’s story, I really thought the portrayal for little Edward was just so phenomenal. Not only did the young actor looked like he walked straight out of the portraits, there is also just so much more nuance and depth given to Edward that no other Tudor adaptation has seen fit to do. In a funny way, I think they should have named this show Becoming Edward 😅

Girl the show is called becoming Elizabeth. An arc is needed

I love the look of the show, and this may be my favorite portrayal of Mary ever. The scenes between Seymour and Elizabeth were so uncomfortable -tend to think that the real Elizabeth probably appeared even more physically childlike than this actress makes my skin crawl. Not to say young Elizabeth might not have had a crush on him, but a child's crush versus the reality of a man's behavior can be frighteningly different.

especially it was Seymour fooling around with Elizabeth, that caused Catherine Parr to dismiss Elizabeth from her household for improper behavior with her husband Lord Seymour

This show felt more like Becoming Mary - I loved Mary !! I was so much more interested when Mary’s character was on screen lol I’d love to see you review The White Queen, The White Princess and The Spanish Princess The way you said there’s not a lot of media on Elizabeth in her younger years is how I felt about The Spanish Princess - in all honesty season 1 drove me insane but I actually enjoyed season 2 a lot because it gave me so much more perspective on Catherine of Aragon … I’m so use to all the focus being on Anne Boleyn that I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know (aside from inaccuracies because it’s a dramatized show lol) about Catherine of Aragon

I'm embarrassed to say I've now seen this show three times and it keeps getting worse every time I see it. Ugh! The way the abusive relationship between Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth is portrayed is sickening and is very difficult to watch. They didn't stick to the sources at all. Some of the other stuff that they did was okay. The portrayal of Mary, Robert Dudley, and Edward VI was very good. I loved the Dudleys the most. Unfortunately, all the cute Robert and Elizabeth scenes didn't make up for the way the Seymour/Elizabeth situation was portrayed. Especially because it took up 90% of the storyline. Thank-you Dr. Paranque for being brave enough to call out this scenario for what it was abuse. There is no evidence Elizabeth was attracted to Seymour or wanted to marry him. I'm very sad they left out the note where she wrote, "Do not touch me." That was very clearly her rejecting him.

when i found out that they somehow romanticized thomas seymour's actions towards elizabeth i literally decided not to watch the show.....however i did skim through the scenes between elizabeth and robert dudley (as they're my favorite historical pairing), i must say it was nice to see them being portrayed as friends cause in most adaptations as far as i know they're implied as lovers right away or something. was also shocked that the actors who played them on this show were both so much older than how old cate blanchett and joseph fiennes were when they played bess and robin in the 1998 movie!

I watched the first episode the other day and couldn't get into it, it just didn't seem like Elizabeth to me at all. And shame on the show for portraying Elizabeth as consenting to Thomas Seymour's paedophilic advances (obviously if you look at it from modern eyes she can't even consent at all, because she's under 16)

Thanks so much for this review, Dr. Paranque. Like you, I loved the show overall and really appreciated the complicated, complex relationship ships between the siblings. The damage that Henry VIII caused amongst his family is really apparent. I would have appreciated a less popular contemporary representation of Elizabeth. I agree that she’s probably portrayed too naively. I thought that Romola Garai was splendid as Mary. 4/5 stars for this show and I wish that it was coming back too. Thanks again for your great content!

Brilliant analysis. I am guessing The Tudors are on your list for future videos, but I would love to see what you think about this show :)

We need Season 2 = Jane Grey and the beggining of Mary Season 3 = the reign of Mary End = Elizabeth queen witch would be correct with the title

Thank you for all the videos i love henry viii and his family

I watched Becoming Elizabep I really enjoyed it . Superb all round Acting. I think that the fact that they only made eight episodes. Left the viewers in limbo . There was much more to be said about this series . Mary taking the throne and Jane Greys execution. Then Elizabeth being Crowned. As I said, the viewers left in limbo. Disgusting.

mary had many moments when she didn’t make sense, sorry. she was always upset about the most stupid things. also, she was very quick to gloat in two situations: when she was duped into the fact that they wanted her as lord protector, and when she thought edward was dying. also, i thought that although maybe the show shouldn’t have been named becoming elizabeth, it shouldn’t have been named becoming mary, either. What stood out to me was how all these nobles were circling around like vultures around these children, Edward, Elizabeth, Jane Grey, with the exception of Mary, who was already an adult and less pliable, and choosing which piece had better chance at securing them more influence, more power. I thought that was the theme of the show, very game of thrones, and how politics disrupted these people’s lives to the point that there was no room for durable love, trust, friendship, for anything that makes life worth living, frankly. in any case, a pretty good series. wish they hadn’t cancelled it.

Romola Gromai needs her own Mary series. The most outstanding portrayal of Mary's complex character I've ever seen. Not the religious fanatic nor the weak indecive woman but a woman with complex and conflicting emotions who knew that everything she said or did could mean the difference between life and death

I don’t think Elizabeth was so easy virtue and easy minded about Tomas, Eve when she was a very young girl.

I liked pretty much everyone EXCEPT for Elizabeth. Mary was amazing!!

I am guessing that it was just a slip when you said that Edward asked Mary to convert to Catholicism. Mary was always a Catholic and never converted to Protestantism as she was determined to keep her mother's faith no matter what.

Really liked the show as well, I think (surprinsingly) I liked Edward Seymour, John Dudley and Mary the best. Most interesting characters for me and so well portrayed, Kudos to the actors. I wanted to slap Edward several times as well as Thomas Seymour. I'm not as well versed in the history as you, but I think the show did a good job with the relationship between Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth. It's possible that she was interested in the man, romantically, in the end, we'll never know what truly happened. I think the show does a good job of showing interest on Elizabeth's part and the predatory behavior of Thomas. I agree that this Elizabeth seems a bit too naive to my tastes, but it was the first season, they need to show character developpement. Her behavior toward Jane Grey though... She was horrible towards her. So disappointed that we won't get a second season.. Anyone has a link to a petition ? (It worked for the Snyder cut, why not this ?)

It is a great point that when you actually act out the written account of Thomas Seymour cutting Elizabeth's dress it is so bizzare and uncomfortable and you just can't understand what is going on in Katharine Parr's head - why is she laughing? Even by the standards of the day it would not seem a normal thing to do. Is it, possibly, a kind of a neurotic reaction because she knows what this is about but cannot bring herself to acknowledge it and that is why she is awkwardly laughing along?

It made me uncomfortable that they made Elizabeth so consenting to the abuse, but then again, this is what in modern terms we would consider 'grooming' and often young people who are groomed do believe they are consenting as that is how their abusers manipulate them, so maybe that's what they were trying to show. I am more confused by Catherine Parr, how on one hand she could be so intelligent, pious and caring for her stepchildren but also be an enabler to abuse?

I love your channel! I'd love to know your opinion on Victoria (pbs series) and The Spanish Princess and White Queen series..! Oh and the Empress and SiSi

2nd season...?

They never got a second season, so there's no reason to talk about it.I LOVED the depiction of Mary Ist. but they somehow decided not to continue it.

I disagree and think the portrayal of the young Elizabeth was brilliant. The naïveté was clearly an act, while more often than not she was the smartest person in the room. Elizabeth wore her innocence like armor. She learned from what happened to her mother that it’s better to play her cards closer to the chest.

I actually found unsettling the age gap between Elizabeth and Catherine Parr: I know there's 10 years between the two actresses, but it actually looked like they were almost the same age and that made all the stepmother-daughter dynamic difficult to believe, to me. Also, seeing an almost 30yo giggling and blushing like a teenage girl is somewhat annoying and not convincing at all. They could have cast a younger actress for Elizabeth as they did for Jane Grey.

I think this show focuses more on mary the Queen Elizabeth the 1st they showed Elisabeth none of us can even imagine

It was a chore to finish this series. Costumes were pretty, some dialogue was good but the pacing and tempo was awful. Honestly one season should have covered 1547-1558. Other issues they made Elizabeth a MILD (Modern girl in a long dress). They made her too cocky, arrogant, and a bit of a mean girl. Her childhood she was in and out of favor, close to being arrested and watching everyone she knew being arrested and executed. She couldnt afford to be cocky or outspoken or a mean girl as it could have cost her life.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

The light is awful in this show, in ‘Becoming Elizabeth” ((

A 28 yo real life German Countess playing a 14 yo Elizabeth! Why u wonder!?? Well firstly, the family used their German aristocratic connections to get her the part, and secondly as the Real Modern Royal family are from German Heritage on Prince Phillips side making most of the current Royal Family half German, they also pushed that as making her ideal! Ridiculous casting all round!😂