ITV Commissions Alternate History Elizabeth I Drama 'Majesty'
Though period dramas have flirted with telling stories about famous faces and eras of history that have nothing to do with Tudor England in recent years, when in doubt this is always going to be a genre that goes back to what it knows best: The family of King Henry VIII, BBC sequel series Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light returns us to the world of Henry's court --- and depicts Thomas Cromwell's downfall --- next year, and ITV has now confirmed they'll once again be tackling the story of his most famous daughter, Elizabeth I, in a new drama. But if the press release for the forthcoming series Majesty is anything to go by, it won't be in a way any of us likely expect.
Described as an "alternate history" version of the famous queen's life, details about the plot of Majesty are being kept under wraps. But per the announcement press release, ITV plans to tell a story that has very little to do with the history that its viewers already know. Described as a "bold reimagining" of the young queen's life, all we know about the show is that it will be based upon one of the many conspiracy theories surrounding her.
What that is, exactly, remains unclear. To be fair, there is certainly no shortage of wild rumors about her life, many of which have already been explored on both page and screen That she slept with her stepfather, Sir Thomas Seymour. That she repeatedly plotted against her elder sister Mary's life or that she orchestrated the murder of Amy Dudley, wife of her longtime favorite (and rumored lover) Sir Robert Dudley. Even that she was secretly a man.
