The first episode of The White Queen, a new original drama from Starz, debuts tonight at 8pm, but you can watch the premiere online for free right now at the Starz website!

Since Starz is a pay cable network, now’s your chance to watch this for free to see if you like it. I’ve already seen the first few episodes, so I can wholeheartedly tell you that this is a great new show to watch. You can check out the trailers and featurettes for The White Queen here below.

This 10-part series is based on The Cousins’ War books by historical fiction author Philippa Gregory, specifically The White Queen, The Red Queen, and The Kingmaker’s Daughter, which deal with the famed “War Of The Roses,” the real-life wars fought by relatives descended from the House of Plantagenet (the Lancasters and the Yorks) to gain the throne of England beginning in the mid-1400s.

Like Gregory’s novels, the events are told from the standpoint of the women. Though The White Queen is based on a few novels, which each have a different woman’s perspective, the showrunners decided to make the commoner Elizabeth Woodville (the main character of The White Queen novel), who would eventually marry into a royal seat with the Yorks, the protagonist, with Margaret Beaufort of the Lancasters (the main character of The Red Queen novel) as her rival. But just because it’s the women’s perspective, don’t think that the events will be told any more softly. No one is safe on this show. Everyone is a potential turncoat, and every life is under threat. Think Game Of Thrones, except this actually happened.

And speaking of Game Of Thrones, if you enjoy that show, then The White Queen will likely intrigue you with its similar internal conflicts for the royal throne, divided loyalties, cutthroat tactics, inappropriate familial relationships, steamy sex, violence, and even the supernatural. The actual War Of The Roses was a bloody affair, so expect more of that in The White Queen. It’s definitely one of those situations where even if you know your 15th century British history, you still won’t see some of what happens coming. Now, that’s good storytelling.

Also, I highly recommend the books by Philippa Gregory, which so far from what I can tell, the televisions series follows very faithfully, right down to exact dialogue. Two of the novels are on sale right now for the Kindle. Here’s some details, in case you’re interested in checking out the three books that the series is based on:

The White Queen (The Cousins’ War)
Paperback $12.09 | Kindle $5.99

The Red Queen (The Cousins’ War)
Paperback $12.09 | Kindle $5.99

The Kingmaker’s Daughter (The Cousins’ War)
Paperback $12.09 | Kindle $10.27

The premiere episode of The White Queen airs on Starz tonight, Saturday, August 10, at 8pm, with encore presentations at 9pm and 10:05pm; new episodes will air on Saturdays at 9pm.

By the way, here’s an interactive Family Tree to help you keep all the main players straight (not an easy feat!).

Video

Trailer

Extended Trailer

The White Queen: Elizabeth Woodville

From Book to Series

The Scheming Noblewomen

[All images courtesy of Starz. Used with permission.]

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