My Lady Jane Has What Every Other Tudor Drama Is Missing

Photo: Jonathan Prime/Prime Video

The premise of the caller Prime bid My Lady Jane is some straightforward and elemental to explain. First, what if alternatively of being yet different amusement astir Henry VIII oregon Elizabeth I, determination was a amusement astir Lady Jane Grey, who was beheaded 9 days into her regularisation arsenic queen? Her largest taste imprint is arsenic the taxable of 1 precise beauteous and tragic painting, but slotting her into a acquainted arc of Tudor past isn’t that hard to get an assemblage onboard for.

Next, what if alternatively of being conscionable the communicative of Lady Jane, it was an alternate history? Rather than person the 1 happening radical whitethorn cognize astir her beryllium true, what if it were not true truthful Jane could go a fun, ahistorically feminist icon who romps astir the Tudor tribunal and advocates for women’s acquisition and regular gynecological care? A small trickier to grasp successful an elevator pitch, but okay! Lady Jane Grey alternate history. Got it.

Also, determination are shape-shifters.

The instinct present whitethorn beryllium a record-scratch I stake you’re wondering however I got here reaction, but it’s important to propulsion past that and fto the quality of a amusement that’s fundamentally Tudor Animorphs lavation implicit you. My Lady Jane, which is based connected a publication bid that is besides astir shape-shifters, spends the archetypal 10 minutes of its aviator mounting the country for Jane’s ascent to the throne. She has ambitious relatives who request her to wed well, and her relative the king is successful failing health. She wants to tally away, arsenic does each heroine astatine this constituent successful her story, and she’s devoted to her lady’s maid and champion friend, Susannah, truthful they determine to tally distant together. When they’re caught, her person tries to tally or, rather, she flies distant by transforming into a hawk. Then the narrator (yes, there’s a narrator) says, “Did I notation that successful this world, immoderate radical tin alteration themselves into an animal?” and proceeds to connection a brisk, 70-second overview of the full shape-shifting deal. They’re called Ethians, they recognize they tin shape-shift during puberty, they’re being hunted to extinction, etc. You get the gist.

If you want, you tin work My Lady Jane’s full shape-shifter premise arsenic an Important Statement astir taste individuality and marginalization. Ethians are calved with their powers and there’s nary mode to power who volition and volition not inherit shape-shifting, truthful it’s beauteous casual to descent the full happening into “This is simply a metaphor for queerness,” “Let’s observe our differences,” oregon immoderate mentation speaks to you most. My Lady Jane does stress this occasionally passim the season, and it’s not particularly subtle astir it, either. (Again, determination is simply a narrator.)

The different option, though, is conscionable arsenic rewarding and arguably a much enjoyable mode to ticker this show: It has shape-shifters! That’s truthful silly! Characters who look similar regular radical support abruptly turning into bears oregon puppies oregon what person you, and each azygous time, Jane oregon whoever other is astir is like, “What! They’re a shape-shifter too?!” The authorities of shape-shifter exclusion is goofily tied up with the existent authorities of the English Reformation and the effort to wrest the monarchy from the power of the Catholic Church. The immense bulk of animals who are besides radical were filmed with existent animals, meaning there’s little of the awkward CGI carnal concern than you mightiness expect, and there’s a constant, ticklish consciousness of however comic it is to look astatine a existent cocker spaniel and think, Ah yes, that’s a pistillate successful canine form. 

Why not do overly acquainted humanities events with shape-shifters this time? The Salem witch trials with shape-shifters is excessively obvious, but what astir the archetypal Continental Congress? (Imagine the Founders signing an alternate mentation with their small paws dipped successful ink!) Or what astir Fleet Street and the emergence of regular newspapers successful London but with shape-shifters! Everyone’s heard of the Revolutionary War, sure, but what if the amusement were intstead astir the War of 1812 and Dolley Madison’s a shape-shifter! Harlem Renaissance shape-shifters! Jeeves and Wooster but shape-shifters! High-seas adventurers onboard a Barbary pirate vessel … and they’re shape-shifters. It works for everything.

TV loves a humanities mounting close now, and sometimes the reasons are boring. The shows tin beryllium comfy adaptations, they tin clasp an aesthetic without having to woody with the interior taste reality, and they tin feel presently applicable without really having to wrestle with existent relevance. If we indispensable beryllium successful an epoch erstwhile truthful galore shows are acceptable successful the past, wherefore not messiness with it? Why not adhd shape-shifters?! Everything other astir what works successful the TV scenery is up for debate, truthful we whitethorn arsenic good spell each successful connected thing fun.