Like many historical television series and films, the STARZ series Mary and George trades historical accuracy for sensationalism; but with Julianne Moore and the beautiful, talented Nicholas Galitzine in the titles roles and Tony Curran offering a volatile, fickle, dissolute version of King James I, it is great fun, soap opera on steroids.

                  The basic facts of the series are true. Mary Villiers, a minor aristocrat with ambition that rivals Lady Macbeth’s, knew that for her to have any power, she had to get it through the men in her family. She found money to send her beautiful son George to France to learn courtly skills, then plotted to get him in front of King James so that he might become the King’s favorite. James, who seems to have been bisexual or homosexual obviously was smitten with George, whom he made Duke of Buckingham and Lord High Admiral. George, his mother and his half-brothers greatly benefitted financially from his power. When James died in 1625 and was replaced by his son, Charles I, George stayed in power until he was murdered in 1628. The upstart, ruthless Villiers always had a lot of enemies and were not popular with the public.

                  The real King James was a complex person. His upbringing was turbulent. His father was murdered and his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was removed from the Scottish throne shortly after James was born. We know what happened to her. James became King  of Scotland when he was thirteen months old.  During his childhood, the country was actually ruled and he was raised by a series of noblemen. He was quite a scholar and wrote important books from an early age and commissioned the great translation of the Bible that bears his name. He had prudent ideas about foreign policy and was eager to unite England, Scotland and Ireland. James believed (even wrote a book on) the divine right of kings. Unfortunately, he had terrible relations with parliament, which he regularly dissolved. He loved hunting and elaborate entertainments, which strained the treasury of the realm.

                  His reign gave us some of the greatest literature England has produced. He was the patron of Shakespeare’s company from 1603. Ben Jonson wrote the texts for some of James’s court entertainments. John Donne was in his prime.  

                  The James of the series is a totally dissolute hedonist who spend most of his time in the company of semi-clad or unclad young men. Once in a while, he shows flashes of Machiavellian guile, but usually takes the advice of his male lovers, whom he elevates to positions of great power. Tony Curran manages to create a mercuric, unpredictable, totally selfish James, sort of a gay 17^th century Donald Trump. 

                  George, dependent on his mother’s guile and advice, is not as savvy as the historical George. In the series, he is a pretty boy out of his depth. This is because the writers have put the focus on Mary who ruthlessly rises through her sons. Mary’s sidekick, lover, and lady in waiting is a prostitute with a taste for homicide (no historical basis for that). Julianne Moore, star and Executive Producer, obviously is having a ball playing this monster whose ambition has no limits. She clearly thinks she is smarter than the men around her but must use them because women have no property or power. George both hates her and needs her. Nicholas Galitzine shows us a young man desperate to be independent of his mother, but not quite ruthless enough to survive on his own.  Essentially, he is placed in the position of women: his power depends on his sexual power over the King. 

                  Some of the moments in the series that seem most outlandish really happened. Mary did lock her son up overnight with Katherine so that her reputation would be so sullied that she would have to marry him even though her parents disapproved. George who has up to now been interested only in men, develops a close relationship with his clever wife.

                  There are a variety of murders that remind the viewer of all the murders in the plays of King James’s time. There are also lots of semi-clad and unclad bodies romping around. Sex and violence—what more can one ask from a slice of history?