The Devil’s Whore: Episode 3 (2009)

 

Okay, so The Devil’s Whore is odd in the way it mixes history and fiction so thoroughly.  You have the stuff with Cromwell, the Levellers, and whatnot, and you have Angelica and her made-up exploits, but some of the real-life characters are incredibly involved in her plots.  Imagine a book in which a plucky colonist gets to know Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, and they’re both in love with her – it’s a little like that.  Historical fan fiction maybe?  I suppose Shakespeare in Love is similar, in that it’s about the relationship between a historical figure and an invented character, but Tom Stoppard has a far defter hand with that sort of thing than the average writer.

 

Still, I like it.  Angelica has become a clever, strong woman who only occasionally wades too far into anachronism.  For the most part, I can buy her view of the world.  Here, she joins the Diggers, a group that seems like precursors to hippies.  They believe in shared property/labor and celebrate universal love.  If you took a bunch of flower children, dressed them like pilgrims, and threw in a hint of Salem suspicion, you’d have a pretty decent picture of the Diggers.

 

But you’re not here for historical fan fiction or pilgrim hippies – you’re here for PC.  Well, Charles doesn’t have nearly as much screentime as yesterday’s previews suggested, but he is excellent.  The performance is just so interesting to me – the arrogance, the entitlement, the nigh-unflappable belief in his own safety.  It’s a fine example of what must happen to someone’s psyche when they’re groomed to believe that God has exalted them above everyone else in their country, that they’re literally infallible.  He’s accused of being a tyrant who stole from, tortured, and murdered his own people, and he seems hurt that they’d punish him for it.  He’s great in all his scenes, but his final sequence is just stupendous.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

 

I’ll mention that this isn’t the end of the miniseries – the finale takes us up to the ascension of Charles II, and since Charles I obviously doesn’t play a role there, PC isn’t in the last episode.

 

And once more:

 

Accent Watch

 

I like that PC really changes his voice here, even apart from the RP.  Once you look under the funny little beard, you can see that it’s him, but Charles I doesn’t sound anything like him. 

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Depending on the person, I think so; I’m planning to watch the final episode, PC-less though it may be, to see how it turns out.  And that cast is almost too good to pass up!

 

PC-wise – I’d say yes.  PC’s role is fairly small, but he’s very good.  At minimum, I’d recommend episode 3, where he gets the most dramatic material.

 

Warnings

 

Add in a pretty gross-looking severed head (don’t you just love the 1600s?)

The Devil’s Whore: Episode 2 (2009)

 

With the country at war within itself and all her old safety nets taken from her, Angelica has to grow up with a steep learning curve.  Though she’s earned a reputation as an impudent woman who doesn’t know her place, she still has a way to go, and her attempts to make her own way in the world proceed by fits and starts.

 

Fortunately for her, she makes her way to the Levellers, the faction of rebels with the furthest-reaching aims – among others, their numbers include John Simm’s Edward Sexby and Michael Fassbender’s Thomas Rainsborough.  Not only do the Levellers want to unseat the king and root out the corruption in parliament, but they seek suffrage for all Englishmen, regardless of property ownership.  Because of their extreme views, their dealings with the more moderate Cromwell are uneasy, and you get the feeling that the alliance won’t last for long.  But while the politics are tense, Angelica is in a great position.  I hesitate to say “she has her pick of hot, strapping proto-feminists with a passion for social equality,” but that’s kind of what happens.  I admittedly don’t know a huge amount about this period of English history, so I’m not sure how anachronistic these attitudes would have been among this movement.

 

Charles I has fled to Scotland by this time, so PC only has a few scenes.  I have to say, I kind of like the way he’s so self-deluded and cocksure.  Surrounded by men who loathe him, he never quite loses the bemused expression in his eyes, as if this is all just a little tantrum that will subside soon enough.  PC seems to be playing Charles I as equal parts Patronizing Father and Slippery Weasel, in an entertaining way.  I’m guessing episode 3 will give him a bigger chance to shine.

 

There’s a few more Who veterans to report, two guest stars from series 4.  Tim McInnerny from “Planet of the Ood” (though I’ll always love him for his work on Blackadder) plays a suitably loathsome baddie.  Also, I spent a good part of episode 1 trying to remember where I’d seen the actor playing Leveller agitator John Lilburne.  Lo and behold, it’s Tom Goodman-Hill, who was the vicar in “The Unicorn and the Wasp.”  As if the 17^th-century clothes, scruffy hair/beard, and Northern accent don’t make him unrecognizable enough, I can’t see a trace of his Who character in Lilburne.  Great performance.

 

Oh, and I should make a quick clarification – I found this series online under its given name, but in the U.S., it’s actually called The Devil’s Mistress.  Just for anyone who might want to seek it out on DVD and wonder why they can only find a similarly-titled miniseries that seems to employ the exact same actors.

The Devil’s Whore: Episode 1 (2009)

Let me try and explain why I came to The Devil’s Whore.  The always-excellent John Simm.  Michael Fassbender.  Maxine Peake, who I loved as Veronica on Shameless.  Dominic West.  Starting to get the idea?

 

This miniseries takes the events leading up to Oliver Cromwell’s defeat of Charles I and views them through the lens of Angelica Fanshawe, a fictional noblewoman.  We open on Angelica about to marry her best friend since childhood; but though she celebrates her love and good fortune, she soon sees that friends aren’t husbands, and the boy she once knew isn’t the man she’s married.  Furthermore, while her husband is the king’s man entirely, Angelica can’t help but feel sympathy towards those who face punishment and torture for railing against unjust rule.

 

PC gets in on the historical side of things, playing none other than King Charles I.  Of course, I already know how things will turn out for him, but episode 1 shows a self-assured man who is willfully deaf to his people’s voice.  As his country roils with upheaval, the indulgence and show of court life continues unabated, and he captains a ship he refuses to admit is sinking.

 

The main focus of The Devil’s Whore seems to be on Angelica – the increasingly tumultuous relationship between Charles I and his subjects could be a metaphor for her and her husband, and much time is devoted to her growing interest in the rebels.  So, PC hasn’t had an enormous role so far, and I’ll always associate Charles I with Stephen Fry’s riotous Blackadder performance, but PC’s doing a nice job.  He plays the king with a slightly delicate prissiness, all softness and vanity at first glance.  And yet, he’s fond of his absolute power, and he proves that he can go cold and hard when he meets the least resistance.  I’m interested to see where he goes from here.

 

One more actor to mention – Harry Lloyd appears in episode 1 as the king’s nephew.  Between this role, Son of Mine on Who, Steerforth in David Copperfield, and Viserys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, his go-to move seems to be mixing different levels of arrogance, creepiness, insanity, and moral bankruptcy.  I have no idea how he managed to get cast as the delightful Herbert Pocket in the recent BBC miniseries of Great Expectations; talk about casting against type!

 

Accent Watch

 

RP, I’d say.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – I’m optimistic.  Seems like a pretty good historical drama, and the cast is stellar.

 

PC-wise – He hasn’t had too much to do yet, but what I have seen makes me want to see more.

 

Warnings

 

A fair amount of sexual content – some discussion, brief nudity, and multiple sex scenes.  There’s also some violence, including battle scenes and bloody 17^th-century punishments.