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.