The White Queen

one of the decade's best, The White Queen is currently streaming in Australia on Stan, and in the US on Starz Apple TV Channel and YouTube TV with a 7/10 audience score that speaks for itself. 10 episodes — the right length to tell the story it is telling. Television that earns its era label is rarer than the number of shows attempting it suggests — most of what gets called prestige TV is really just expensive TV. The White Queen is one of the genuine examples: the craft is there in the writing, the performances, and the way it handles its subject matter. Rebecca Ferguson's involvement signals the kind of production that attracts serious talent and uses it properly. Available now on streaming — no excuses left for not watching it.

British production values give The White Queen a feel distinct from American and international alternatives. Set against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, the series is the story of the women caught up in the protracted conflict for the throne of England. Rebecca Ferguson and Max Irons lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It aired in 2013. The writing trusts the audience to sit with ambiguity rather than wrapping every episode in a tidy conclusion — it is the approach that separates good drama from great. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

The show you recommend to people who say they do not really watch TV. The White Queen tends to convert them. The complete run is available and worth treating as a single long film if your schedule allows. The quality of the character writing is the reason it holds up on rewatch, when you can see the groundwork being laid in early episodes for things that only pay off much later. The patience it asks of you in the early episodes is paid back with interest. Rebecca Ferguson is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record.