Why is every historical drama a ‘romp’? Unpacking the TV trend

My Lady Jane

Credit: Prime

Entertainment


Why is every historical drama a ‘romp’? Unpacking the TV trend

By Meg Walters

7 months ago

4 min read

If you want to make a historical drama these days, it simply must be a romp. 


The bygone era of the historical drama is officially over. Instead, we have entered the age of the historical romp.

Take My Lady Jane, Prime’s latest historical series, which offers up a revisionist, fantastical version of Lady Jane Grey’s doomed rise to power in Tudor England. “This is an epic tale of true love and high adventure set in an alt-universe of action, history, fantasy, comedy, romance and rompy-pompy. Buckle up,” reads the official description. Then there’s The Decameron, an upcoming Netflix show that is based on mid-14th century short stories about a group of wealthy Italians who took refuge in a villa outside of Florence as the Black Death swept across the country. Naturally, this will be, as Netflix states, a “wine-soaked sex romp in the Italian countryside”. Sky’s Mary & George, another historical retelling, was billed as “an audacious historical psychodrama”. There are many, many others: Netflix’s Bridgerton and, more recently, The Buccaneers; Hulu’s The Great; and Prime’s The Serpent Queen, to name a few.

Nicholas Galitzine in Mary & George

Credit: Sky Atlantic

In 2021, after the wild success of the first season of Bridgerton, Netflix proudly stated that the show “isn’t meant to be history”. Rather, it is “designed to be more lavish, sexier and funnier than the standard period drama”. Well, Bridgerton’s fresh, irreverent take was so successful, it has since become the blueprint. The romp has become the standard.

The problem is, all of these historical romps are getting a little dull. What was once a thrilling new take on an age-old genre has become a tad formulaic. 

After all, they look and feel very similar. A romp is always heightened, crass, sexy, energetic and, invariably, candy coloured. Its trailer is set to a riotous pop-punk anthem. The script is packed to the brim with audaciously anachronistic contemporary references. The Buccanneers’ soundtrack, for instance, boasts songs by Warpaint and Gracie Abrams, while Bridgerton’s latest season takes sartorial inspiration from the Marlboro Man and Marilyn Monroe, and references modern fashion designers. My Lady Jane even includes lines like “As if” and “Fuck that”. 

A romp is always heightened, crass, sexy and energetic

These things do not automatically make these shows bad. In fact, the heightened, aggressively modern, anachronistic style of the romp often proves to be an asset. 

There is some logic behind the romp trend. At its heart, the historical romp is about convincing a young contemporary audience that these stories and these characters are relevant and recognisable. If they had lived in our time, this is what kind of person they would have been. This is what they would have worn. This is the music they would have listened to. This is the kind of wild stuff they’d say. 

Decameron

Credit: Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix

The romp-ification of the period drama is also almost always an attempt to present historical stories and characters from a female perspective. In the past, historical dramas had a tendency to present women who were (or, thanks to the manners and customs of the time, at least appeared to be) quiet, simpering, timid and tame. In the most recent batch of historical retellings, the wild, irreverent style allows women in old-timey costumes to be everything a contemporary woman might be – rude, horny, ecstatic, conniving, power-hungry, drunk, sloppy, clumsy, funny, brave and so on. It’s worth noting that many of these shows are led by all-female production teams.

They present historical stories from a female perspective

The romp is also a chance to give certain groups of people who were historically oppressed the gift of a happy ending – or, at the very least, a fun romp of a time. Bridgerton reimagines Regency England as a place without racism. Mary & George toys with notions of sexual fluidity and presents a Tudor world in which pretty much everyone is queer.

It’s understandable that filmmakers are trying to modernise the historical drama. After all, it’s much harder to convey modern thoughts and feelings through the stilted language and antiquated costumes of the traditional period piece. But perhaps there are other ways to connect with contemporary audiences without always automatically opting for the (now very established, very trendy) romp style.

The Buccaneers is the Apple TV+ period drama that fans of Bridgerton will love

Credit: AppleTV+

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for the historical romp – when it’s done right. Some shows do warrant the wild, heightened style that has become the standard for the period drama. My Lady Jane is about shapeshifters and a woman who falls in love with a horse-man. The Decameron is about the wild parties of a group of Italian noblemen and women. These were made to be romps.

But perhaps there is still room for a little subtlety in some of our other period dramas. Maybe there are other ways of conveying strength and youth and relevance that don’t involve Olivia Rodrigo and Y2K-inspired crop top corsets. Maybe our sense of empowerment and recognition would be even stronger if some of our period dramas were just a little less rompy and just a little more real.


Images: Netflix; Starz; Prime; Apple TV+

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