TV series review: Becoming Elizabeth
Historical adaptations can break new ground in two ways. They can peel back the curtain and tell us the story from a point of view or character that is usually sidelined, or they can focus on a period that usually gets skipped over. Becoming Elizabeth has chosen the latter course and it is a masterstroke that seemingly reveals a new seam of gold in the caves of history. Of course, it was always there, those eleven years in which so much happened, and so much that Princess Elizabeth had to be either clever or just lucky to live through. Her nine year old brother, Edward is now king, her sister Mary (Romola Garai,) is on the other side on religion (at a very dangerous time to do so) and has that chip on her shoulder from being the daughter that Henry VIII pushed aside more than once. Ms Garai's performance is perfect and I must say it's a delight to see her on the screen again in such a multilayered character as Mary. She may be the adult in the room, but she still must bow to