BBC recently aired a 10-episode series titled Versailles, following the life of King Louis XIV of France, the mind behind the beautiful Palace of Versailles. Set around 1667 when Louis moved his Parisian court to just outside the capital at Versailles, his father’s hunting lodge, the series documents the court rebellions, infatuations and political moves of the time.
I thoroughly enjoyed the series. Raunchy, conflicting and exciting, every episode was dark and atmospheric. I was gripped. I found I was isolating myself in a quiet room whenever the episodes aired so I could properly pay attention to every detail. To me, that’s the sign of a good drama.
Historical drama can go two ways. Often the writers can stray from fact so far that it merely becomes a piece theoretically set in the past. Other times however, they blend artistic license with stone-cold facts and that is when it becomes really exciting. Naturally, all drama programmes use a dash of interpretation and flair to make them interesting but I found Versailles kept major historical events, such as deaths and feuds, whilst also inserting their own take on personalities. It was done very well.
For some, the uncensored sexual scenes were too much. People described this series to me as the ‘explicit, raunchy one’, with unsuspecting viewers turning it on to see people turning on each other! Personally I didn’t find these scenes to be excessive, I think they add an additional layer of passion and thickens the plot, but some were put off.
The cast were fantastic. The agitation and conflict between the characters of King Louis (George Blagden) and his brother Philippe I (Alexander Vlahos) is superb and the actors are clearly very well suited to playing such roles together. Evan Williams, who portrays Chevalier de Lorraine, was one of my favourite actors; deliciously snakey and manipulative, I enjoyed the flair and extravagance of this character coupled with the passion of his affair with Philippe. Of the female cast, Noémie Schmidt, playing Henrietta of England, epitomised every emotion of a mistress of the king who is slowly losing his favour. The longing, devotion, desperation and conflict were so potent that you wholeheartedly believed in the love she possessed for him.
The political court game was shown, accurately, to be all about manipulation and contacts. Spies, rebels and noblemen littered the court atmosphere and made every episode intriguing. I was unaware the series had been signed for a second season so the cliffhanger at the end had me writhing!
There was also an interesting segment that followed each episode called ‘Inside Versailles’, hosted by Greg Jenner and Professor Kate Williams, which looked at the historical context of the episode that you’d just watched. These were great to see and gave you a peek at the accuracy behind the historical drama.
Overall, I think that the series is definitely worth a watch.
Rating:
- Entertainment: 8/10
- Quality: 9/10
- Cast: 9/10
- Addictiveness: 8/10
Total: 34 /40
Versailles series 2 returns in 2017.
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{Breakdown of the rating system:
Entertainment: How exciting the plot is.
Quality: How well the series is made; the atmosphere, clothing and set.
Cast: How good the selection of the cast is.
Addictiveness: How gripping the series is and how much it makes you want to watch the next episode.}
The Girl In The Window 