MovieChat Forums > The Devil's Whore (2008) Discussion > Horribly Wrong?

Horribly Wrong?

posted 16 years ago by Spidersthrash
9 replies | jump to latest

Okay, so I know this series has been horribly wrong about lots of things, but I suppose I havn't realy minded up until now, but *SPOILER*, Sexby was captured and died in the Tower of London, yeah? That's what I've read about him, but the show obviously differs in this account. Have they just taken sever liberty with history, or has everything I've read on the subject been terribly mistaken (which I sincerely doubt)? I realise the his suicide was much more dramatic and it tied everything up quickly, but it just seems ridiculous to me that they'd change such an important detail...

"We had it all, natural style, unnatural drugs, and supernatural tailors."

[–] little_miss_sunnydale 16 years ago

Have they just taken sever liberty with history, or has everything I've read on the subject been terribly mistaken (which I sincerely doubt)?

No, you are correct – although I know little about the life of Edward Sexby, I do know that he was imprisoned in the Tower and died there in 1658.
But they wanted the hero to go out with a bang (literally) and so they scrapped the actual ending.

‘Noli me tangere; for Caesar's I am’

[–] trinity_x18 16 years ago

There's very little historical accuracy in The Devil's Whore. I was dead disappointed with it from that perspective - after the interviews with the writers about what a neglected period it is in drama, I thought they were going to make a serious effort. But they seem to have wantonly exploited history for the sake of a romance, instead of working with the facts.

Which is tragic - they could have done it so easily, and still had the same gripping story in there.

[–] beckyvowles 16 years ago

I think they were a: creating some additional drama, which wouldn't have been there from Sexby slowly dying of an unknown fever. This would have been very dull especially as they had already had Honest John rotting away in Gaol.
and b: trying to roll the character of Sexby into the character of Miles Sindercombe. Sindercombe had conspired with Sexby (briefly) and with others to assassinate Cromwell. After a variety of failed attempts, including one where the plan was to ambush Cromwell's coach as it passed through a narrow passage (much like Sexby's plan in Devil's Whore), and a plan to burn down the Palace of Whitehall with Cromwell inside; Sindercombe was arrested. Having been tried and found guilty he avoided the humiliation of an execution for treason by committing suicide by poison. Not as exciting as blowing your brain out with a flintlock, and certainly less visually "pleasing".

[–] Devon_Rex 16 years ago

I agree that British history was not particularly well served by The Devil's Whore but dramatically John Simm's character was fantastic.

[–] Moss-37 16 years ago

It's the usual 'poetic licence' card the TV people decided to use.Bit of a let down really as I would of opted for a more dramatic death scene...would of liked him dragged off to be hang,drawn and quartered,with Oliver sneering as he hacked his guts out...now what an opportunity missed!

[–] andreap 16 years ago

Well...um...since he died of fever before going to trial you would've missed out on that ending as well. I think it was a good choice for the script since Sexby's original demise would have seemed like an instant replay of what we just saw with Lilburne. It would have been interesting to see Cromwell's "interrogation of him though.

I NEVER expect to get a full picture of anything as complex as either science or history from tv/movies. want good thought provoking drama. It usually is a starting point for further searching into a subject. Duchess made me drag out my bio of G. Spencer. Dangerous beauty made me seek out 'the honest courtesan"

Devil's whore
I loved the story and thought it was very effective at being in the spirit of the period. And for introducing me to levellers, diggers, ranters, pamphlet culture and all the other fascinating bits of history I seemed to have missed in the course I took on ECW in college. It's sent me back to the books for more detail and will probably do the same for loads of other folk.

[–] caidyc 16 years ago

Well as an Irish citizen I found it rather good. However the 5 minutes spent glossing over the mass murder of a 100,000 Irish people was a bit frustrating but I'm just rather surprised the British are getting around to telling the story at all.
The grittiness was very reminiscent of Deadwood and Rome two series I very much enjoyed. I like this new realism in historical dramas and beg for it to continue.
The acting was brilliant. Although the depiction of Cromwell as a rather handsome dashing man was WELL wide of the mark. By all accounts he was a rather slovenly unattractive man.
And I'm not just saying that because I'm a mick.

[–] wildsilver_fairy 16 years ago

I NEVER expect to get a full picture of anything as complex as either science or history from tv/movies. want good thought provoking drama. It usually is a starting point for further searching into a subject. Duchess made me drag out my bio of G. Spencer. Dangerous beauty made me seek out 'the honest courtesan"

Devil's whore
I loved the story and thought it was very effective at being in the spirit of the period. And for introducing me to levellers, diggers, ranters, pamphlet culture and all the other fascinating bits of history I seemed to have missed in the course I took on ECW in college. It's sent me back to the books for more detail and will probably do the same for loads of other folk.

I agree with you - in fact I think it's pretty unrealistic to expect a history lesson or any vast degree of historical accuracy from a dramatic production. I found the Devil's Whore very a very compelling drama, and it did inspire me to read up about the English Civil War - IMO when a historical drama series can do that it's done a good job of sparking your interest in a time period :)

[–] neztra 13 years ago

I wouldn't have had such an issue with the historical inaccuracies if the series hadn't begun with a statement that it was based on the true life of Angelica Fanshawe. To anyone who has never studied the period, they would assume these are true to life events. Just sad.

Bam said the lady.