Emily Bader as Lady Jane Grey in Amazon's My Lade Jane. The comedy is a fresh take on the period genre that’s gained so much popularity of late,Jonathan Prime/Amazon MGM Studios
In 1553, Henry VII’s great-granddaughter, Lady Jane Grey, inherited the crown from her cousin, Edward VI. She was a teenaged Protestant who didn’t want the job, but Edward hoped she would support his reformed Church of England. Lady Jane’s reign was brief. She served for nine days before the Privy Council switched its allegiance to Edward’s half-sister Mary Tudor, a devout Roman Catholic.
Jane was charged with treason, and when she refused to renounce Protestantism, she was beheaded. Under Mary’s regime, hundreds of Protestants were also executed for heresy, leading to her famed nickname, Bloody Mary.
But what if history were different, and the women at the centre of this story were more than the Nine-Day Queen and a character whose name children chant in the mirror? That’s the entry point to Amazon’s new period comedy, My Lady Jane.
The eight-episode series stars Emily Bader in the title role, and Kate O’Flynn as Mary. Showrunner Gemma Burgess adapted the show from a series of novels written by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows, beginning with the 2016 title, My Lady Jane.
In this story, Jane is a whip-smart girl whose main goal in life is to document medical remedies and publish them. But when her mother, Lady Frances Grey (Anna Chancellor), arranges for her marriage to a notorious playboy, her life takes an unexpected turn and her dreams are put on hold.
A colourful cast of characters and a twisty plot follows, introduced by a narrator with a satirical sense of humour. That sets the show’s unique tone, which is best described as modern feminism meets historical toxic masculinity. It’s a fresh take on the period genre that’s gained so much popularity of late, in the vein of shows such as Bridgerton, The Buccaneers and The Gilded Age, and it leans into a revisionist history such as Dickinson or The Great.
What would it have been like if women had more power back then, or if the gals whose fateful residences at the Tower of London were remembered for more than their deaths? The show never shies away from those questions and presents a world where women take control of their own destinies, in spite of the men who would historically use them as pawns in their own power struggles.
Despite those big questions and the heavy subject matter that follows, such as torture, death and war, My Lady Jane strikes a light tone. Cartoonish characters show up at the right moments, or the narrator steps in with a deftly timed comment to keep it fun. (If you’re not into narrated series, those interruptions may begin to grate, but if the level of narration in Jane the Virgin was doable, then you should be okay here.)
And what of the religion that loomed over all of those big decisions during that era? It’s present only as a metaphor.
In My Lady Jane, there are characters known as Ethians, people who transform into varying animal forms, from insects to bears. Ethians are prohibited in this world and prosecuted when discovered, adding a Carnival Row vibe to the series.
Their existence, struggle for equality and fight for the right to co-exist anchors the plot as Jane gets closer to the crown, adding a divide among characters that pushes them to pick sides. Jane is pro-Ethian and Mary is pro-killing them, and in this queendom, there’s no room for anything in between.
Grounding it all is Jane, whose modern perspective on the world often makes everyone else look foolish. Her interactions with the men in her life provide a lot of the comedy, and Bader delivers an exceptional performance whether she’s winking at the audience, sword fighting in the forest, or making an impassioned speech to save her life or the life of another.
O’Flynn is equally compelling and embraces the villainous role with aplomb. She leans into Mary’s sadistic qualities with a slightly unhinged performance to draw laughs, but easily switches to cold and calculating for the more dramatic moments.
It’s a tight and fun series with plenty of world building, recurring jokes and cliffhangers to invest younger audiences, with the bonus of steamy sex scenes, choreographed fights and period costumes. Eight episodes fly by and leave you wanting more, which may be the plan if this hits with viewers.
My Lady Jane is a fun summer watch that will scratch that period-drama itch when all episodes premiere Thursday on Prime Video. You may even learn a little bit about history in the process – but take it with a grain of salt. As the show explains at the outset, Lady Jane Grey is remembered as the ultimate damsel in distress, known for her death rather than her life. This is not that tale.