A television documentary review describes “Queen James,” a screen adaptation of historian Gareth Russell’s book, focusing on James I of England’s male relationships and how these connections influence his reign. The accounts highlight that contemporaries openly discussed James’s close male companions, including critics who nicknamed him “Queen James,” while later Victorian historians often suppressed details of the king’s romances. The documentary uses James I’s primary sources—especially the king’s own letters—to frame what the review characterizes as a largely available but underused historical record.
The review characterizes Russell as engaging and humorous, presenting a confident and well-paced narrative that is described as gossipy on the surface but not presented as prurient. It also notes that the programme applies modern sensibilities without fully erasing seventeenth-century social context. Overall, the review emphasizes the documentary’s approach: using abundant documentary evidence to explore the king’s personal relationships as part of a broader historical picture, while balancing candour with interpretive nuance.
