''The Devil's Whore'' (released as ''The Devil's Mistress'' in North America) is a four-part television series set during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, produced by

Company Pictures Company Pictures is a British television production company which has produced drama programming for many broadcasters. It was set up in 1998 by Charles Pattinson and George S. J. Faber, George Faber, colleagues at BBC Films. Their first film wa ...

for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in 2008. It is about the adventures of the fictional Angelica Fanshawe and the historical

Leveller The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...

soldier

Edward Sexby Colonel Edward Sexby (or Saxby; 1616 – 13 January 1658) was an English Puritans, Puritan soldier and Levellers, Leveller in the army of Oliver Cromwell. Later he turned against Cromwell and plotted his assassination, which Sexby considered ty ...

and spans the years 1636 to 1660. It was written by

Peter Flannery Peter Flannery (born 12 October 1951) is an English playwright and screenwriter. He was born in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear and educated at the University of Manchester. He is best known for his work while a resident playwright at the Royal Shakespear ...

, who began working on the script in 1997. It was followed by a sequel series, ''

New Worlds New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

'', in 2014.

Production

The series was filmed in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. This caused some negative comment from reviewers but the producers maintained that they had been unable to find suitably "old English" locations in England.

Cast

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' ...

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director, producer, and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (20 ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

Andrea Riseborough Andrea Louise Riseborough (born 20 November 1981) is an English actress. She made her film debut with a small part in ''Venus'' (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in '' Brighton Rock'' (2010), '' W.E.'' (2011), '' Shadow Dan ...

as Angelica Fanshawe *

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (; born 2 April 1977) is a German-Irish actor. His accolades include nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on ''The Irish Ti ...

Thomas Rainsborough Thomas Rainsborough, or Rainborowe, 6 July 1610 to 29 October 1648, was an English religious and political radical who served in the Parliamentarian navy and New Model Army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. One of the few contemporaries who ...

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker i ...

as King Charles I * Jeremy Crutchley as Toop *

Tom Goodman-Hill Tom Goodman-Hill (born 21 May 1968) is an English actor in film, television, theatre and radio. He has acted for over 30 years, and in 2024 he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the Netflix drama '' Baby Reindeer''. Early ...

John Lilburne John Lilburne (c. 161429 August 1657), also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after the English Civil Wars 1642–1650. He coined the term "'' freeborn rights''", defining them as rights with which e ...

Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in ''Dinnerladies (TV series), dinnerladies'', a sitcom on BBC One (1998–2000), as List of Shameless (British TV series) characters#Vero ...

as Elizabeth Lilburne, John's wife *

Tim McInnerny Timothy L. McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is a British actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Kevin Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInner ...

as Joliffe * Robyn Olivia as Angelica's mother * Robert Coleman as Angelica's father *

Ben Aldridge Benjamin Charles Aldridge (born 12 November 1985) is an English actor. He is known for his portrayals of Captain James in the BBC military drama '' Our Girl '' (2014–2018), Arsehole Guy in the dramedy series ''Fleabag'' (2016–2019), and T ...

as Harry Fanshawe *

Harry Lloyd Harry Charles Salusbury Lloyd (born 17 November 1983) is an English actor. His performance in the Channel 4 miniseries '' The Fear'' (2012) earned him a British Academy Television Award nomination. He gained prominence through his roles as W ...

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

* Melodie Abad as

Queen Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria of France ( French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until his execution on 30 January 1649. She was ...

* Ian Redford as

Earl of Manchester Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the current senior title of the House of Montagu. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester. Manchester Parish in Jamaica was named aft ...

* Angelica Jopling as the young Angelica * Gabriel Rybko as young Harry * Robert van Vuuren as

The Devil Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or 'e ...

Episodes

North American release

The series was released on DVD in North America in 2011. Retitled ''The Devil's Mistress'', it presents the series as two two-hour episodes.

Reception

Critical reception was positive, though there was some criticism of the omission of some figures and events (such as

John Pym John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician and administrator who played a major role in establishing what would become the modern Westminster system, English Parliamentary system. One of the Five Members whose attempte ...

, the

Earl of Bedford Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England and is currently a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Bedford. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded ...

, Sir

Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

, Sir

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, (31 October 1598 – 17 February 1680) was an English statesman, best remembered as one of the Five Members whose attempted arrest by Charles I in January 1642 sparked the First English Civil War. When fight ...

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674) was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fro ...

, Colonel Sir John Hutchinson,

Henry Ireton Henry Ireton (baptised 3 November 1611; died 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and a son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 165 ...

and the

Bishops' Wars The Bishops' Wars were two separate conflicts fought in 1639 and 1640 between Scotland and England, with Scottish Royalists allied to England. They were the first of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which also include the First and Second En ...

) and the fictionalisation of others (such as the suggestion that Cromwell orchestrated Rainsborough's death, of Rainsborough not Sexby being a close friend of Cromwell's, Sexby's going to Ireland and the losing of his arm and Sexby's assassination attempt on Cromwell). Critical reception of the first episode was positive, with

Nancy Banks-Smith Nancy Banks-Smith (born 1929) is a British TV critic, television and radio critic, who spent most of her career writing for ''The Guardian''. Life and career Born in Manchester and raised in a pub, she was educated at Roedean School. Banks-Smith ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' praising Capaldi's performance and calling the drama "rollicking", "well written and acted" and marked by "a quite serious attempt to explain the underlying issues". ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' also praised Capaldi, along with the lack of anachronisms and the treatment of the era's sexual politics. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' called it "bodice-rippingly melodramatic" and showing a tension between Flannery's "desire to get as much real political fact in as he can and the ... requirement that a primetime series should liven up the party with sexual tension and historical glamour". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' called it "a curious beast – mannered and theatrical, with modern-looking faces speaking period dialogue in an historical dreamscape" and "If not entirely successful, ... the best sort of failure – unusual, brave and fascinating". Another ''Times'' critic criticised it for "slightly too much reading history backwards here, almost making Angelica look like a modern woman travelled back in time" and its "frankly unnecessary bedroom scenes ... slipped in, presumably to demonstrate her liberated nature", whilst overall praising the episode as "gripping", "cutting" and "lively" and in particular noting that Simm played Sexby "strikingly". The ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' also noted it as "an intelligent, richly textured labour of love". John Adamson, a non-stipendiary by-fellow in History at Peterhouse, Cambridge, criticized the series as "a cartoon-strip version of the Civil War".

Awards and nominations

The series won in the Best Drama Series category at the 35th Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards (2009) and Riseborough won in the Best Actress Category.

Michele Clapton Michele Clapton is a British costume designer. Among other awards, she won an Emmy Award for the costumes in ''Game of Thrones'' in 2012, 2014, and 2016. In 2016, April Ferry took over Clapton's duties as the new costume designer for a majorit ...

won at the

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and Worl ...

, in the category of Best Costume Design. At the 2009

Royal Television Society Programme Awards The Royal Television Society Programme Awards, (often referred to as the RTS Awards) seek to recognise programmes or individuals who have made a positive and material contribution to their genre: either because their content or originality in for ...

, the series won three awards, Drama Serial, Actor: Female for Risenborough and Writing: Drama for

. The same year, at the

Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards The Royal Television Academy Craft & Design Awards, often referred to as RTS Craft & Design Awards, are given annually by the Royal Television Society to recognize the "huge variety of skills and processes involved in programme production". The aw ...

, Julian Court won Lighting, Photography & Camera – Photography – Drama and Nadine Prigge was nominated for Make Up Design – Drama.

References

External links

* *
Review, Leicester Mercury
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Whore, The 2000s British television miniseries Fiction set in the 1630s Fiction set in the 1640s Fiction set in the 1650s Fiction set in the 1660s Television series set in the 17th century Channel 4 miniseries 2008 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series English Civil War films Channel 4 television dramas Television series by All3Media British English-language television shows Cultural depictions of Charles I of England Cultural depictions of Oliver Cromwell Cultural depictions of Henrietta Maria of France