History is a lot of fun when seen through a modern lens, and The Serpent Queen is a stylish historical drama about the 16th-century rise to power of the great Catherine de Medici. Samantha Morton gives the monarch’s story new life by showing how a young girl learned to make the best of a bad situation as she grew up.
One of the things that make the show so easy to watch is that it makes history easy to understand for modern audiences, even if they don’t know Catherine’s story.
Erwin Stoff, the show’s executive producer, told What to Watch that the idea of a “glass ceiling” makes it more interesting for modern audiences. “When I got into the movie and TV business, there was an apparent glass ceiling,” he said.
“But the business was full of smart, talented women whose job was to serve the material to the men who could give it the “green light.” It was easy to understand how angry those women who couldn’t get into the halls of power just because they were women. I think that makes [The Serpent Queen] so easy to understand.”
Writer and showrunner Justin Haythe agreed, saying that he wanted the show to be easy to follow for anyone, no matter how much they knew about history. “I wanted to make a show that anyone could enjoy, even if they didn’t know much about history. I also wanted to make a show where you could watch it all the way through and still not know much about history, but you could if you wanted to. Everything was there.”
What we know about The Serpent Queen is listed below.
The Serpent Queen Release Date
According to whattowatch, The first episode of The Serpent Queen will air in the US on STARZ on Sunday, September 11 at 8 pm ET/PT. It will be available at midnight on September 11 on the STARZ app and all on-demand streaming platforms where a Starz subscription is available.
The Serpent Queen will be available on STARZPLAY at midnight for people in the UK and other parts of the world.
The first season of the show has eight episodes.
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The Serpent Queen Season 1 Episodes
In the first episode of the new season of The Serpent Queen, Liv Hill and Samantha Morton both play Catherine de Medici. Morton plays Catherine the Great, and Hill plays Catherine when she was a child. From the beginning, it’s clear that this historical drama is different from other period pieces.
Morton’s Catherine is delightfully cunning and wicked, while Hill’s Catherine is both young and smart. Catherine needs to use all of these traits to stay alive.
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“Medici Bitch” is the first episode of season 1 of The Serpent Queen.
Date of airing: September 11, 2022
“Queen Catherine starts to tell Rahima, a servant girl, the story of her life. She tells Rahima how she became a member of the French Royal Court when she was 14 years old.”
What is the Serpent Queen About?
“The Serpent Queen is a historical drama with a twist. It tells the story of Catherine de Medici’s (Morton) rise to power in a way that is different from how it is usually told. In the first episode of the series, “Medici Bitch,” Catherine’s story is told through flashbacks as she defends her actions and tells Rahima, her new servant friend, what she’s learned (Sennia Nanua).
Catherine, played by Liv Hill, is only 14 when she marries into the French court of the 1600s. Even though she is a commoner, her uncle Pope Clement (Charles Dance) has negotiated a large dowry and a geopolitical alliance in exchange for the marriage.
This means that many heirs are expected. But on the night of her wedding, Catherine finds out that her new husband is in love with Diane de Poitiers, a beautiful lady-in-waiting twice his age who is played by Ludivine Sagnier.
“Catherine’s future is suddenly uncertain, and she has little hope of getting pregnant. She must quickly figure out who she can trust, both among her personal courtiers and among the members of the royal court, and outsmart anyone who thinks she won’t do whatever it takes to stay alive.
“The Serpent Queen was written by Justin Haythe and is based on the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda (Revolutionary Road, Red Sparrow, The Lone Ranger). Stacie Passon, who has worked on shows like “Transparent,” “Dickinson,” and “Billions,” directs several episodes, including the first one, and is also the show’s executive producer.
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Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2) and Erwin Stoff (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2) are in charge of the show (The Matrix, 13 Hours, Edge of Tomorrow). Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts Entertainment make the eight-episode show for STARZ.
Who is in the Serpent Queen Cast?
This stylish historical drama has an all-star cast, led by BAFTA winner Samantha Morton.
Look at the actors and think about where you may have seen them before:
- Samantha Morton (The Walking Dead, Harlots)
- Sennia Nanua (The Girl with All the Gifts, Frankie)
- Liv Hill (Three Girls, Jellyfish)
- Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, The Sandman)
- Ludivine Sagnier (Lupin, The Young Pope)
- Colm Meaney (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Tolkien)
- Kiruna Stamell (The New Pope, Moulin Rouge!)
- Barry Atsma (The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Bad Banks)
- Alex Heath (Suspicion, Boiling Point)
- Amrita Acharia (Game of Thrones, The Good Karma Hospital)
- Enzo Cilenti (Free Fire, The Last Tycoon)
- Antonia Clarke (Anna, Magic in the Moonlight)
- Adam Garcia (Coyote Ugly, Murder on the Orient Express)
- Beth Goddard (Manhunt, Des)
- Raza Jeffrey (Homeland, Code Black)
- Ray Panthaki (Away, Colette)
- Nicholas Burns (Emma, Harlots)
- Danny Kirrane (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Don’t Forget the Driver)
- Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Adult Material)
How to watch The Serpent Queen
The Serpent Queen was made by STARZ. You can add it to your cable package as a premium channel, or you can subscribe to STARZ directly and watch it anywhere. Once you have a STARZ subscription, you can watch anywhere, like on Roku, Apple TV, Android, Prime Video, XBOX, Samsung, LG, or Vizio.
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The STARZPLAY app lets people in the UK watch STARZ (opens in new tab). You can also sign up for it separately through Prime Video or Virgin TV.
Frequently Asked Question
Does Medici the Magnificent Have Catherine De Medici?
“The age of Catherine de’ Medici” refers to the time when her sons were kings of France. This is because she had a lot of power in French politics, even if it didn’t always work out the way she wanted.
In Reign, Who is Queen Catherine?
The serpent queen Catherine de’ Medici, or Caterina de’ Medici in Italian, is one of the main characters in the series. She was the Dowager Queen of France. She is the widow of Henry II and the mother of ten children: Francis, Louis, Charles, Henry III, Elisabeth, Claude, the twins Emone and Henrietta, Louis, Margaret, and Clarissa.
In the Serpent Queen, Who Plays the Queen?
Sammi Morton
We’re talking about Catherine de’ Medici, who is called The Serpent Queen (StarzPlay) in the title of the show or, in TV lingo, Samantha Morton’s character.
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