But it's a documentary.
I like documentaries as much as the next guy, I just find it a strange thing to do for events and people such as these.
The constant cuts to the narrator (Dan Jones) showing us things and speaking about The Plantagenets does a weird thing to your mind.
On one hand, everything he says, basically telling you the story is extremely interesting, the story is one of mad people.
But on the other, it stopped me from concentrating as much on to what the story should be, all that kept coming to my mind was "This is what David Attenborough does when speaking about animals".
Especially when the narrator's own emotions come into it and he tries to say something in the way he believes others to say it.
It's probably the wrong time for me to review the show to be honest as thanks to my girlfriend, I've been watching a lot of David Attenborough, so watching a documentary that is about something else entirely kind of throws me off.
That's not to say it isn't a decent show however. I don't really want to say anything about Henry Plantagenet, his battles or life, because even though the narrator put me off, and the random times it was chosen for the narrator not to speak and events written on a black screen did the same. The story behind everything is a crazy brilliant story and feels to mad to be the truth. But it is.
And that was all for the first episode.
Part way through the first ep, Dan goes to meet a Doctor whose an expert in Medieval French Court, who gives her opinion of some events. The decision to do this breaks the narrative and just as you begin to really get into the story, it pulls you back out, reminding you it isn't fiction.
Episodes 2, 3 + 4 continue in the same way. The story itself becomes more and more intriguing and really draws you in. And narrator Dan Jones is constantly pulling you out.
Ok. On episode 3 I started to ignore Dan and just pay attention to what the story was he was telling us.
It's a shame the show is the way it is. It could have been a brilliant drama, having the story speak for itself.
Even if it was a one off feature length episode without narration, it would be a massive gem.
It would show you the very story that it says Game Of Thrones was inspired by.
Which to an extent it does show you, but not in the way I believe it should have.
I would compare the similarities between the two, but I haven't actually seen Game Of Thrones yet.
Either way, my last thoughts as the final episode ended were "Was that it?" because it didn't have the full impact it should have done thanks to the way they showed it. If it was filmed as something other than a documentary I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. And although I enjoyed the story itself for what it was and what happened, and it has left me with an interest in the Plantagenets that I didn't have before, I still left the show feeling underwhelmed thanks to the narration being quite bland throughout and sort of breaking the story.
That's the best way I can describe it at the moment.
I'd say go and watch the show if you like documentaries about historical events and not about animals or the planet, as it is something I can imagine many people will love.
In all I'll give the show a
5/10.
It had a great story, based on true events. But the narration ultimately ruined it for me.