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Queen of Oz (2023)
7/10
If you keep watching you'll be glad you did
18 June 2023
I would've given this an 8, except the series was uneven. Some of the bad reviews on here are from people who only watched the first episode or the first couple. Those episodes were fair at best, relying too much on gross humour and one level of shrillness from Tate. But within that, two of the characters in particular were very funny - Bernard, played by Robert Coleby, successfully channeling Sir John Gielgud from "Arthur" and Anabel, played by Niky Wardley, the ditzy lady-in-waiting. The writing for them was very clever and I thought "OK, maybe it just needs to find its way" so I kept watching.

What I think this is supposed to be is a satire of what happens to members of the Royal Family who don't conform and Georgiana does not. Despite her obvious privilege, I think Tate very successfully - although not immediately - creates a character who never fit into the "Royal" template and who's very damaged by many things that happened to her in the past. She has a family who doesn't care about her at all as a person and never did.

Tate loses a lot of the shrillness and becomes quite sympathetic as the show continues. She's a good actress and comedienne and I was glad to see that come out. There is a cast of straightmen and women that Tate uses to her advantage to strut her sarcastic humour and they're all game. Besides the two actors I mentioned earlier who were so funny, I'd also add Sylvia, played by Lynette Curran, who shows up a few episodes in with her dog and has a single bit that she does frequently, but it's so well timed and so silly that I laughed each time. It felt like the part was written for Jacki Weaver, but she wasn't available or something.

It's hard to say more without mentioning main plot points. I'm trying to keep the spoilers light so my review isn't hidden due to spoilers. The whole season is a bit over two hours. If you watch the whole thing, I think you'll be glad you did.
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