Queen Cleopatra review: casting is not the problem with Netflix docudrama
Adele James is superb as Cleopatra but the series is ‘too soapy’ for history buffs

Netflix’s drama-documentary made headlines last month when the Egyptian government denounced it as a “historical fallacy”, because the show insists that Cleopatra was black, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. No one knows what colour Cleopatra’s skin was, but she is widely believed to have been of Greek-Macedonian descent.
So what evidence has the series got to support its theory? Well, it mainly relies on the work of the American academic Shelley Haley who, in the first episode, recalls her grandmother telling her: “I don’t care what they tell you in school, Cleopatra was black.” And that is that really.
As for the rest of the series, it mixes talking heads with historical reconstruction, to explain why Cleopatra “was such a significant figure”. It does that well enough, but ultimately falls between two stools. It’s “too soapy” for history buffs, and not soapy enough to entice fans of “juicy historical dramas”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, Adele James is superb as Cleopatra, said Leila Latif in The Guardian. And the reenactments are “fun”. It is just a shame they are interrupted by interviews with people who seem more “fans than historians”.
James is “mesmerising”, agreed Hugo Rifkind in The Times. Other aspects of the casting are more questionable – such as Michael Greco (Beppe from “EastEnders”) as a “hairy, sexy” eunuch. But what is perplexing was the decision to mix up enjoyable enough drama with dense explanation, and producer Jada Pinkett Smith intoning things such as, “What is a Pharaoh? She is the sands and the skies and everything in between.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Lovestuck: a 'warm-hearted' musical with a 'powerhouse score'
The Week Recommends Team behind the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno have created a hilarious show about a disastrous viral Tinder date
-
Outrageous: glossy Mitford family drama is full of 'fun, fashion and froth'
The Week Recommends Adaptation of Mary Lovell's biography examines the scandalous lives of the aristocratic sisters
-
F1: The Movie – a fun but formulaic 'corporate tie-in'
Talking Point Brad Pitt stars as a washed up racing driver returning three decades after a near-fatal crash
-
Lost Boys: a 'sobering' journey to the heart of the manosphere
The Week Recommends James Bloodworth examines the 'cranks and hucksters' making money through 'masculine discontent'
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
Critics' choice: Carrying the flag
Feature The best barbecue in town, Bradley Cooper's cheesesteak restaurant, and more
-
Film review: Materialists
Feature Two suitors seek to win over a jaded matchmaker