It appears that Mary, Queen of Scots, the cousin of Elizabeth I, is a popular subject as there will be (at least) three period dramas this and next year on the tragic Queen of Scotland.
English: Mary Queen of Scots in an official portrait. Italiano: Maria Stuarda, regina di Scozia, in un ritratto ufficiale. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Reign (2013) – TV
Release date: 17 October 2013
The CW Network will be coming out with a series on the young Queen in her earlier years in France in 1557. Mary, Queen of Scots will be played by Australian actress, Adelaide Kane. According to Deadline, this CW production is described as “Game of Thrones (2011-Present) meets Marie Antoinette (2006).” Or, as ClevverNews points out, GoT meets Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl. As you can see from this preview video, it’s a teenage drama.
If you are interested in reading teenage literature on Mary, The Royal Diaries series has a book on her: Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country – 1553 France.
MARY Queen of Scots (2013) – Movie
Release date: 2013
All that we know for now is that it is a 125 min. Swiss film in English and French, filmed in Switzerland. Camille Rutherford will portray Mary. According to Swissinfo, filmmaker Thomas Imbach will be focusing on Mary’s life from “cradle to grave.” I like the fact that they cast Scottish actors (though Camille seems to have a French accent, perhaps due to the fact that Mary had spent her 13 years in France). (Most films nowadays tend to have all royals and aristocrats speaking in some form of “British English” accent.) Playing Lord Darnley is Aneurin Barnard, who plays Richard III in BBC’s The White Queen. Take a look at the collage and introductory video, as well as the trailer:
Mary Queen of Scots (2014) – Movie
Release Date: ? (starts shooting in 2014)
This is the one I’m looking forward to most. Michael Hirst is the screenplay writer (he did The Tudors, Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age) and Irish actress, Saoirse Ronan, will play Mary. Sadly, that is all the information I have on this. Let’s hope that it is in production!
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In the meantime, you can watch the miniseries, Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004), which is loosely based on the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots – played by French actress, Clemence Poesy – and her son, James I.
Related articles
- Mary, Queen Of Scots Is Given 3D Treatment (news.sky.com)
- Facial reconstruction of Mary Queen of Scots to go on display (telegraph.co.uk)
- Mary, Queen of Scots exhibition to examine monarch’s life (scotsman.com)
- Mary, Queen of Scots: Locarno Review (hollywoodreporter.com)
- After 400 years Mary, Queen of Scots again captures the fascination of film-makers (theguardian.com)
- Mary, Queen of Scots suffered betrayal, torment and imprisonment – now, as two dramas tell her story, forensic experts recreate what she really looked like (dailymail.co.uk)
The Lady and the Rose 
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I stumbled across this post–hey it’s only 2 ½ years old–and it hit home immediately. For my birthday Emilio took me to the Met Opera to see “Maria Stuarda.” It was amazing, both Mary & Elizabeth’s characters had brilliant voices. Not historically accurate, just like most operas. In this, Leicester is in love with Mary as well as Elizabeth. He decides to free Mary upon learning Elizabeth is now betrothed to the dauphin of France–which we also know didn’t happen–did it? [I read that bio a long time ago.]
Inaccuracies or not, Donizetti does a fabulous job! [That was not supposed to sound like a sales pitch…but alas!]
How sad, I just discovered your comment! I shall have to see Maria Stuarda someday! You know how much I love operas! 😉 That’s quite interesting what they’ve done with the characters.