My Lady Jane

^{Review by AJ}

Wanna know what a historical drama for Gen-Z looks like? My Lady Jane shows you how it’s done!

Funny, irreverent, and romantic, My Lady Jane is a revisionist take on the life of Lady Jane Grey, a young Tudor noblewoman who became the Queen of England for nine days in the 16th century before her life got tragically cut short, literally. 

From the get-go, the Prime Video series announces loud and proud that it is not your grandmother’s – or even your mother’s – historical drama. Narrated with the sensibility of a TikTok content creator, the show begins with a quick recap of the real life Jane Grey’s fate. It’s all the known facts about her: her superior intelligence from a young age, how she became Queen when her cousin King Edward died of illness, how court conspiracy eventually got her beheaded after barely a week on the throne. But, screw that, they’re now going to retell Jane’s story as the badass genius that she was. And this time, the damsel’s gonna save herself. 

Jane Grey (Emily Bader) is a young lady from a noble family with dwindling fortune. She’s smart, outspoken and strongly passionate about herbs-making. She dreams of becoming a healer, but it doesn't matter in the conservative Tudor society she’s in. All her mother wants her to do is to marry into nobility and save their family from ruin. 

A series of circumstances force her to marry Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel), a handsome aristocrat with a rakish streak. Though Jane feels an attraction to him, she despises his guts. Their union takes an unexpected turn when Guildford is revealed to be a shapeshifting Ethian who involuntarily turns into a horse every daytime. In their society, Ethians are considered dangerous creatures and therefore always hunted down, posing a huge challenge to the already at odds newlyweds.

In recent years, many period dramas have gone the anachronistic route: Netflix’s Bridgerton, Apple TV+’s Dickinson, Hulu’s The Great, the list goes on. It’s a reflection of the time and the necessity to adjust to younger audiences, though their existence often triggers controversies about impropriety, messing with history, wokeness and whatnot. It is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it jolts a new life into a stuffy genre and allows history to be sexy again for the younger crowd, so ultimately, it finds its own place in the world. 

My Lady Jane’s approach, in particular, finds the sweet spot between raw, modern appeal and historical intrigue. It helps that the series is an outright comedy, allowing the modern zings to be part of the humour a la Monty Python’s movies. When it comes to serious dramas, the contemporary touches often stick out like a sore thumb. Here, it feels more like “I can’t believe they just did that” amusement. 

Every aspect of this show embraces the anachronism wholeheartedly: the club music, the slangs, the attitude. But what makes it work is the intriguing characters. They are confined to all these medieval circumstances and their responses to them always feel relatable. It does get a little bit cynical at times, but more often than not, the show knows how to elicit sympathy for these crazy kids. 

It also helps that the central couple of Jane and Guildford share so much chemistry together. If anything, there is plenty of romance for those who enjoy Bridgerton or the old teen classics over at The CW. While it is indeed the story of Jane Grey’s liberation, it’s nice to see her having a push-and-pull romance that isn’t just treated as a B-plot. 

My Lady Jane belongs to a new breed of period drama. Love it or hate it, it is a strong offering that pushes the boundaries of the genre.