With the arrival of digital TV, allowing for more adult entertainment, courtesy of the likes of HBO, AMC, Starz, etc, the historical drama has become more, well, naked.

The Borgias, The Tudors, etc. have undressed chapters in history, whilst also enjoying showing how men and women did it in the old days.

This kind of approach however, just would not go down well with the viewers of prime time BBC1. The White Queen then, based on Philippa Gregory's bestselling historical novels, is, quite unsurprisingly, a return to more traditional storytelling.

It's 1464 and England is in a bit of a pickle. War rages between two houses – the Yorks and the Lancasters – over which one of them should be ruling the land. But out of this conflict a young love blossoms between Edward IV (Max Irons) and Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Ferguson).

They marry, in secret, which gives Elizabeth the hump, quite naturally. But things are awkward at home for Ed; he has the kingmaker Lord Warwick (James Frain) advising him and this marriage would nark him so. It does. Ed hopes that they can all just learn to get along, but that doesn't work out for anyone.

Schemes are soon aplenty, with nearly everyone on every side plotting against someone. The only thing that's clear is that Ed has a lot of interesting in his crown and it's going to take some doing for him and Elizabeth to stay royal heads of state.

Boy bands did things differently in the 1400's.

As this is child-friendly history storytelling, there's obviously less nudity than the new pretenders-to the-drama-makers-throne use. That wouldn't be such a bad thing if the series as a whole didn't have such a soap opera feel to it. It's all a bit too gossipy, with one group saying stuff about another behind their backs; it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to hear them slagging each other off in Ye Olde Queen Vic over several pints of mead.

Considering how violent these times also were, there's a distinct lack of battles; it's as if Sky Sports had the exclusive viewing rights and the Beeb could only announce the results at the end of them.

It does look pretty though, with the great English countryside looking rather resplendent in Belgium, where it was shot.

Despite its soapy feel, there are some strong performances from the likes of Frain, who would make a great villain in panto (oh yes he would!), and Amanda Hale who plays Margaret Beaufort; her Beaufort is initially as wet as the majority of characters she ends up playing, but develops over the episodes into a strong and watchable role.

It's not a bad stab at drama by any means, but it does feel a little history-by-numbers now compared to more modern takes on the past.