Entertainment NOW

Entertainment Now | July 30 - August 5, 2022 By Sarah Passingham TV Media O ne of the most tumultu- ous chapters in the his- tory of the British mon- archy has been blessed with the period drama treatment, reanimating the final Tudor queen's ascension to the throne. "Becoming Elizabeth" airs its Season 1 finale Sunday, July 31, on Starz, highlighting the teen - age and young adult life of Eliza- beth I, portrayed by "Genius" ac- tress Alicia von Rittberg. It is no secret that the ever- changing politics of the court greatly impact the opinions of the head of any monarchy or leadership, and this is precisely from where "Becoming Eliza - beth" builds its gripping intrigue. The series begins moments after Elizabeth and her brother Ed- ward, played by young "War of the Worlds" actor Oliver Zetter- ström, receive news of the death of their father, the notorious Hen- ry VIII. Next in the line for the throne, 9-year-old Edward is made King of England in 1547 and serves until his death in 1553. He is quickly sidled by his power-hun- gry uncle, Edward Seymour, por- trayed by "Dickensian" star John Heffernan, also known in title as the Duke of Somerset. The boy king's legacy, meanwhile, re- mains largely tied to his involve- ment in the English Reformation. King Edward is remembered for furthering the bloody splinter- ing of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic faith under the Pope to Protestant Christianity, a tradition carried on from his father's ambitions to be the ultimate authority over Eng- land. Following Edward is the nine-day reign of his named suc- cessor, Lady Jane Grey (Bella Ramsey, "Game of Thrones"), un- seated by Mary I (portrayed by Romola Garai, "Atonement," 2007), a Catholic who earned the moniker "Bloody Mary" through her crusade to reverse Edward's Protestant reforms. This is "Becoming Elizabeth," however, and young Elizabeth craves power and influence of her own. As viewers get to know her in the series, Elizabeth's de- sires are stunted by the limita- tions of her status and her naïve- té. After her half-brother is crowned King, Elizabeth is sent to live with her stepmother, King Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr, portrayed by "The Last Post" actress Jessica Raine, at her home in Chelsea, but she quickly and unknowingly becomes a pawn in Catherine's game with her lover, Thomas Seymour, played by "Downton Abbey" ac- tor Tom Cullen. Typical of the tan- gled web of British nobility, Thomas is Edward Seymour's brother and they are both broth- ers to Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII. (Still follow- ing?) Planning to keep Elizabeth close while they get what they want, Catherine and Thomas seek a speedy, King-approved marriage while Thomas begins a flirtatious repartee with Eliza- beth as a mask for his other am- bitions. What begins as manipu- lation becomes a very real affair between Thomas and Elizabeth, becoming still more complicated when Catherine dies during labor in 1548 and leaves him begging his brother, ever in the King's ear, for permission to marry Eliza- beth. This permission is denied. The picture "Becoming Eliza- beth" paints of the eventual queen may seem at odds with the public legacy of the "Virgin Queen," but the title contempo- raneously — and now contextu- ally — refers to her lifelong un- married status and portrayals in the art of the time as god-like. Carrying the weight of having been Anne Boleyn's daughter and having once been deter- mined an illegitimate child of Henry VIII, Elizabeth had to forge her own legacy. The series creator behind "Be- coming Elizabeth," playwright Anya Reiss ("EastEnders"), set out to imagine an Elizabeth Tudor that was of this world, using what we know about her real life. "I don't think I set out to re- shape the way anyone thought about Elizabeth," Reiss told Time magazine of her intentions for the show. "I set out to portray her as a real human person," adding, "People think she's iconic. I wanted to undeify her." In order to portray Elizabeth, German actress von Rittberg did some serious research on the Tu- dor queen, including some out- of-the-box coaching. "You have to give it so much time that it just becomes some- thing natural," von Rittberg told W Magazine of the process she underwent to master the accent, posture and movements of the would-be queen. "I did start to work with a movement coach half a year before ... like how to turn in that much fabric and such heavy clothes, how to move fast, or be more [or less] focused as a 14-year-old." Having garnered both audi- ence and critical praise, "Becom- ing Elizabeth" clearly scratches an itch for fans of a certain fanta- sy drama TV adaptation. Combin- ing terrible boy kings, backstab- bing, upwardly mobile advisers and land and faith wars, it's easy to make a comparison to one of the last real appointment-TV phenomena, "Game of Thrones" (however dragonless this series may be). For anyone suffering the gap between the May 2019 "Game of Thrones" finale and the pro- jected August 2022 premiere of its sister series, "House of the Dragon," it might be time to dip a toe into the "Becoming Eliza- beth" waters. Dust off your throne and set out a feast for the dramatic sea- son finale of "Becoming Eliza- beth," airing Sunday, July 31, on Starz. John Heffernan and Tom Cullen in "Becoming Elizabeth" Her royal highness: The last Tudor rises in 'Becoming Elizabeth' 2 | Cover story Grindstone Charlie's 1 x 4" Moore's Home Health 5 x 2"

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