Louise Culmer

A mildly amusing spoof whodunnit with absurd characters and a daft plot. It was tolerable to watch once, but I wouldn’t want to see it again. Could have done with being about half an hour shorter.

A weird period drama about the rivalry between Queen Anne's two favourites, Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill. the film begins with Abigail Hill being thrown out of a coach into mud (we never learn why) and being given a job as scullery maid at Hampton Court (she was actually a woman of the bedchamber, but never mind). Sarah spends a lot of time going around in men's clothing and shooting things, Abigail spends a lot of time in the woods looking for herbs, to a. Cure the Queen's gout, and b. poison Sarah. there is a very strange scene at a ball which inexplicably turns into in episode of Strictly Come Dancing. Abigail marries a Mr Masham, who was groom of the chambers to Queen Anne's husband, George of Denmark, who does not appear in the film (unless of course he was the naked man being pelted with satsumas). Sarah is supported by the leader of the Whigs, Abigail by the leader of the Tories, who also happened to be her cousin (another thing the film doesn't mention). people vomit into vases quite a lot. Throughout, Sarah is presented as the innocent victim, with Abigail the scheming hussy who seeks to displace her (Sarah's famous rages, which were the real cause of the Queen tiring of her, are not in evidence). towards the end Abigail is cruel to a rabbit, as if any greater evidence of her infamy was necessary. the film is two hours long, though it seemed much longer to me. The film's peculiar mixture of a little fact and a lot of fantasy did not appeal to me.