Queen of Oz

It starts so very cringeworthy and irreverent then gets even more so! Totally appealed to my warped sense of humour and you just have to roll with it and not overthink it 😁They had to have had fun making it!

This is a series bound to offend the sensibilities of some people who should preferably not slam the door on their way out! 😂 The dialogue and characters poked fun at both the British monarchy and Australians and their idiosyncrasies overall and, as an Aussie, it was easy to laugh at all the character representations.

Made me belly laugh out loud and I really hope they make a second season 👍

Catherine Tate seems to be an 'all or nothing' performer to me. Sometimes her characters are very funny, sometimes they fall flat as a pancake. She does have a tendency to stretch a one-joke character so thin that eventually it snaps and the original joke becomes so overworked that it just isn't funny any more.

"Queen of Oz" doesn't seem to have a joke or a character that hasn't already been bent out of shape to fit into a shaky framework that just isn't funny. Some will love it I guess, but it's not for me.

The whole premise is so far-fetched as to be ridiculous, it's neither based in reality or interestingly surreal, it's just one of those ideas that seemed funny when you were drunk one night, but really can't stand the harsh light of day.

I would've given this an 8, except the series was uneven. Some of the bad reviews on here are from people who only watched the first episode or the first couple. Those episodes were fair at best, relying too much on gross humour and one level of shrillness from Tate. But within that, two of the characters in particular were very funny - Bernard, played by Robert Coleby, successfully channeling Sir John Gielgud from "Arthur" and Anabel, played by Niky Wardley, the ditzy lady-in-waiting. The writing for them was very clever and I thought "OK, maybe it just needs to find its way" so I kept watching.

What I think this is supposed to be is a satire of what happens to members of the Royal Family who don't conform and Georgiana does not. Despite her obvious privilege, I think Tate very successfully - although not immediately - creates a character who never fit into the "Royal" template and who's very damaged by many things that happened to her in the past. She has a family who doesn't care about her at all as a person and never did.

Tate loses a lot of the shrillness and becomes quite sympathetic as the show continues. She's a good actress and comedienne and I was glad to see that come out. There is a cast of straightmen and women that Tate uses to her advantage to strut her sarcastic humour and they're all game. Besides the two actors I mentioned earlier who were so funny, I'd also add Sylvia, played by Lynette Curran, who shows up a few episodes in with her dog and has a single bit that she does frequently, but it's so well timed and so silly that I laughed each time. It felt like the part was written for Jacki Weaver, but she wasn't available or something.

It's hard to say more without mentioning main plot points. I'm trying to keep the spoilers light so my review isn't hidden due to spoilers. The whole season is a bit over two hours. If you watch the whole thing, I think you'll be glad you did.

An unwanted, ginger haired member of The Royal family has become a national disgrace, and to spare The Country and family any more torture, she's packed off.....

.....and so begins the reign of Queen Georgiana of Australia.

Catherine Tate where on Earth do you get such weird and wild ideas, I can only imagine.

Already this show has been fairly unfairly maligned, but if like me you're a big fan of Tate, you'll enjoy it, it's typical of her brand of humour. How nice to sit down to something funny on a Friday night, it's been a while.

It's a bumpy opening, but it develops well as the series progresses, there are some fun characters and great one liners, lots of jokes about Britain's standing on the world stage.

It won't be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed it, a funny take on the madness of The Brits abroad.

7/10.

Pleasantly surprised after the first episode, it's not as hackneyed or cringey as I expected. As a not easy to please viewer, I found a couple of laugh out loud bits and, compared to the other fare Auntie offers us currently, that's a decided plus. Also, any comedic material in the capable hands of Catherine Tate has a more than average chance of success. And, a good point made by another reviewer about not bingeing but going old school on the episodes - definitely recommended in this case. Let each episode percolate.

Now, to fill up the quota.

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