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Mary & George

Mary & George is a British historical drama television miniseries created by D. C. Moore and directed by Oliver Hermanus, Alex Winckler and Florian Cossen, based on Benjamin Woolley's non-fiction book The King's Assassin (2017) about the affair between James VI and I and George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. It was released on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2024 and was released on Starz on 5 April in the United States. The miniseries received positive reviews from critics.

Cast

Main

Julianne Moore as Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham
Nicholas Galitzine as George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
Tony Curran as James VI and I
Laurie Davidson as Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
Sean Gilder as Sir Thomas Compton
Mark O'Halloran as Francis Bacon
Pearl Chanda as Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset
Trine Dyrholm as Queen Anne
Simon Russell Beale as George Villiers
Niamh Algar as Sandie
Adrian Rawlins as Edward Coke
Samuel Blenkin as Charles I of England
Amelia Gething as Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck
Nicola Walker as Elizabeth Hatton
Kate Fleetwood as Cunning Mary
Mirren Mack as Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham
Unax Ugalde as Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Count of Gondomar
Joseph Mawle as Sir Walter Raleigh

Recurring

Jacob McCarthy as Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey
Tom Victor as John Villiers, 1st Viscount Purbeck
Alice Grant as Susan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh
Rina Mahoney as Laura Ashcattle
Emily Fairn as Jenny
Lydia Fleming as Anne Turner
Angus Wright as Sir David Graham

Guest

Ankur Bahl as Xander, Mary's bookkeeper
Khalil Gharbia as Jean, George's tutor
Dimitri Gripari as Vincent, Jean's assistant
David Weiss as Christian IV of Denmark
Ryan Oliva as Wearstrap, Graham's henchman
Matt Barkley as Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Dylan Brady as Peter Carr, Somerset's cousin
Jamie Michie as Captain Harrison, a captain under Raleigh's command
Simon Winkler as Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland
Cat Simmons as Cassie, a captive freed together with Sandie
Aine Mcnamara as the Spanish Infanta
Alex Brendemühl as Olivares, the Spanish Chief negotiator
Robert Lonsdale as John Felton

Episodes

Production

The seven-part limited series is created by D. C. Moore, and Oliver Hermanus serves as lead director. Moore and Hermanus serve as executive producers alongside Liza Marshall for Hera Pictures and Sam Hoyle for Sky Studios.

In October 2022, it was announced Julianne Moore would lead Mary & George as Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham. Nicholas Galitzine joined the cast in January 2023 as Mary's son George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Additional castings were announced in March 2023.

Principal photography was underway in England as of January 2023, slated to begin in London. It was reported Knole in Kent would be shut in late January and early February for filming. From 22 to 26 May 2023, shooting was based at Ham House in Richmond, which doubled as a London palace. Cast and crew were spotted at Old Hunstanton Beach in Norfolk in early June.

Release

The series was presented at the MIPCOM in Cannes. NBCUniversal Global Distribution is handling international distribution on behalf of Sky. The series will premiere on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom. Sky will also air the series in Ireland, Germany and Italy. Starz will release the series in the United States and Canada. AMC Networks was previously set to air the series in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India but ultimately dropped it. Foxtel picked up the series for broadcast/streaming in Australia, available from 6 March 2024.

In May 2023, first look still images of Mary & George were published in Vogue magazine. At the Edinburgh Television Festival that August, Meghan Lyvers, Director of Original Drama at Sky Studios, stated Mary & George was expected to be released "in the coming year".

The initial trailer was released on 16 November 2023.

On 1 February 2024, the official trailer was released and it was announced that Mary & George would premiere on 5 March 2024 on Sky Atlantic.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 43 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics' consensus states: "Bawdy, irreverent, and ruled by Julianne Moore in top form, Mary & George is a regal treat for fans of frothy court intrigue." This was seconded by The Guardian's Joel Golby, who gave the miniseries a full five stars, describing it as "a wickedly lewd delight" that is "fresh and new and interesting". On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph, on the other hand, gave it only three stars out of five, saying Mary & George "takes the facts and runs riot with them" in "a stylish drama, but with little substance". Ed Power in The Irish Times was more scathing, describing it as "an art-house renaissance romp with the safety-catch off", and "dimly lit, misanthropic and wallpapered in bared flesh". The historian Mark Turnbull, writing for the magazine of the Historical Writers' Association, concurred in complaining of the "inaccuracies, exaggerations, and highly significant bouts of pure fiction" in a series claiming to be based on fact.