Critic Reviews

Queen delivers the basic goods (intrigue, sex) , but the only vivid character is Margaret Beaufort, mom of the future Henry VII. She's played by Amanda Hale with startling neuritic fervor. [12 Aug 2013]

It’s a great tale and beautifully told with beautiful actors.

Absurd but engrossing War of the Roses-era drama. [9 Aug 2013, p.73]

The Starz 10-hour miniseries is a beautiful, fun period piece populated by amazing talent.

It may not have the production values of those shows [The Tudors or The Borgias], but it does have an Irons, who, along with the rest of the cast, makes The White Queen an entertaining romp through a complicated and fascinating period of English history.

Addressing these complexities [the women hav[ing] to be more creative in their scheming], however, and incorporating the other tentacles of Gregory’s history eventually begin to dilute the story’s central thrust (and there’s a lot of thrusting) toward the end of the eight episodes previewed out of the 10-part run.

Adapted from three overlapping page-turners by the prolific Philippa Gregory, this enjoyably propulsive high melodrama replays the classic Wars of the Roses family feud (York vs. Lancaster) from the perspective of the women who are both pawns and players in a violent, turbulent game of claiming and keeping the English throne.

The White Queen is gauzier than “The Tudors,” and it contains more overacting; but it scratches the same itch.

Though the series drags whenever it becomes bogged down in political aspects of the fight, it’s inherently entertaining to see such back-stabbing, and possibly literal stabbing, between supposed loved ones.

Its success is due largely to the costumes, set dressing, and comeliness of the two leads, a smoldering Max Irons (son of Jeremy) and radiant Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson.... The problem with The White Queen is its pace, slowed by ponderous exposition and arcane bloodline conspiracies.