Becoming Elizabeth Trivia | 25 facts about the series

«Becoming Elizabeth» is a historical drama series, created by Anya Reiss, that follows the younger years of Queen Elizabeth I.

Let’s find out more about series!

1. Becoming Elizabeth is a historical drama series.
2. It war created by Anya Reiss.
3. The series follows the younger years of Queen Elizabeth I.
4. It premiered on Starz on June 12, 2022.
5. In October 2022, the series was cancelled.
6. Alicia von Rittberg and Jessica Raine are 11 years apart in age. Princess Elizabeth and Catherine Parr were 21 years apart in age. Elizabeth was 14 when her father died while Catherine Parr was 35.
7. Catharine Parr died (1548) of puerperal fever, at the time an illness that usually took some days to die from. Catherine died 7 days after giving birth. Thomas would have know she was sick and dying, rather than being a complete surprise. In 1537 his sister Jane Seymour died of the same illness, 12 days after giving birth.
8. Leo Bill who plays Henry Grey in this was previously in another Starz show dealing with the Tudors. He played Margaret Beaufort’s servant Sir Reginald Bray in The White Queen.
9. Jessica Raine portrayed Lady Rochford , Anne Boelyns sister in law in Wolf Hall
10. Despite playing father and son, Jamie Parker (John Dudley) and Jamie Blackley (Robert Dudley) are only 12 years apart in age.
11. The series begins when Princess Elizabeth was 14 and her brother assumed the throne, however at the time of filming, Alicia von Rittberg was 27.
12. Jessica Raine was 38 while Catherine Parr was 35. Catherine never saw her 40th birthday, instead she died at 36.
13. In December 2019, it was announced Starz had greenlit an 8-episode series focusing on the younger years of Queen Elizabeth I created by Anya Reiss, who would also serve as an executive producer.
14. In October 2022, it was announced that Starz had cancelled the show and there would be no season 2 covering the reign of Mary I.
15. In October 2020, Alicia von Rittberg joined the cast of the series.
16. In May 2021, Romola Garai, Jessica Raine, Tom Cullen, Bella Ramsey, Oliver Zetterström, John Heffernan, Jamie Blackley, Jacob Avery, Alexandra Gilbreath, Leo Bill, Ekow Quartey, Alex Macqueen and Oliver Huband joined the cast of the series.
17. Principal photography began in December 2020.
18. In March 2021, production took place at Cardiff Castle.
19. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 16 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10.
20. The website’s consensus reads, “Angsty as a disgruntled teenager and all the better for it, Becoming Elizabeth finds fresh drama in the Tudors by shifting focus onto the royal court’s web of spiders.”
21. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.
22. The series was repeated in the UK on Channel 4 from 15 July 2023.
23. Becoming Elizabeth has its dramatized historical inaccuracies, but the show must be praised for its mostly true-to-life depictions of the most important characters of the English Court.
24. The outlet stated that low ratings were to blame, writing that the “series failed to capture audiences meaningfully” and lost viewership across its run.
25. A subsequent season was expected to follow the brief reign of Lady Jane Grey and also the tumultuous rule of Queen Mary I.