# The White Queen (2013)

> Women caught in the Wars of the Roses scheme and marry their way through the fight for the English throne.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/51114

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 58 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Max Irons, Amanda Hale, Janet McTeer, James Frain, Tom McKay, Faye Marsay, Juliet Aubrey
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2372220/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: intimate, sumptuous, tense, melancholic, intrigue-driven

## What critics say

Viewers broadly praise The White Queen as a well-made period miniseries that foregrounds women's political power during the Wars of the Roses, with positive audience reception.

## Synopsis

The White Queen (2013) is a British historical drama miniseries created for BBC One, adapted in ten episodes of roughly an hour each. Set in 15th century England during the Wars of the Roses, it follows Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Ferguson), a widow who wins the attention of the newly crowned Edward IV (Max Irons) and risks everything on a secret marriage. Around her, Margaret Beaufort (Amanda Hale), Jacquetta of Luxembourg (Janet McTeer), and Anne Neville (Faye Marsay) work their own networks of ambition, faith and survival, while James Frain plays the powerful Richard Neville and Aneurin Barnard plays Richard III. The engine of the story is the struggle of women with little formal power to protect their families, bloodlines and fortunes when every alliance can shift overnight and a battlefield defeat can end a household. Each episode unfolds through letters, whispered negotiations, arranged marriages and royal feasts, building into one continuing saga of dynastic rivalry. Shot with rich period costume and candlelit interiors, the series balances lavish pageantry with a steady undercurrent of dread and anxiety. Its mood is intimate, sumptuous and quietly tense, and fans of The Tudors, The Borgias and Wolf Hall will find resonance in its court intrigue and its focus on the women who shape history from behind the throne.

## Shows like The White Queen

- [The Virgin Queen (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/12780)
- [The Borgias (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/30388)
- [King & Conqueror (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/157052)
- [Becoming Elizabeth (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/123832)
- [The Tudors (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/2797)
- [The Spanish Princess (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/73417)
- [Maximilian and Marie De Bourgogne (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61682)
- [Isabel (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/38640)
- [Wolf Hall (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/54963)
- [Mary & George (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/133629)

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