New Prime Video comedic period drama series My Lady Jane takes viewers into an alternate version of history, where Lady Jane Grey escapes her own beheading and goes off on an adventure.
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The series comes from showrunners Gemma Burgess and Meredith Glynn, and is inspired by the 2016 novel of the same name. However, Burgess has revealed there were a number of other sources which provided inspiration for the show.
Burgess said: "Many people know that Lady Jane Grey was married against her will, made Queen for nine days, then put in the Tower and shortly thereafter beheaded. Our show is about what might have happened if history was different and if she hadn’t died.
"It’s a silly, fun, smart, swashbuckling, rambunctious alternative history. It’s The Princess Bride meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Blackadder."
Emily Bader as Lady Jane Grey in My Lady Jane. Jonathan Prime/Prime Video
Members of the show's cast have also compared the show to The Princess Bride, revealing it was a reference point for them right from the audition stage.
Edward Bluemel, who plays Guildford Dudley, said: "The big one that was mentioned when I was auditioning was The Princess Bride. It was so nice to go back to some of these films and watch them knowing that I was about to be in something like that. One of my all-time favourite films is A Knight’s Tale and I think so many people about my age have watched it.
"I saw it as a young child and I found it inspirational in terms of what a film could be and how fun something could be. Paul Bettany in A Knight’s Tale has always been one of the reasons that I attribute to me becoming an actor. He had magical levels of charisma and was so funny. So when the opportunity came up to be in something of similar-ish tone, I jumped at it."
Meanwhile, Henry Ashton, who plays Stan Dudley, said of the series: "It simply has a bit of everything! Romance, comedy, fantasy, drama, action, sex, history.
"The whole show is just so much fun! And calls back to those amazing films of the '90s and early 2000s, like The Princess Bride and A Knight’s Tale, in the way that it is unapologetically hilarious, romantic and heart-warming."
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
