Conception In February 2013,
The CW announced its order of a pilot for a TV series based on the life of
Mary, Queen of Scots, created by
Stephanie Sengupta and Laurie McCarthy, and produced by CBS Studios. Part of the reason McCarthy chose Mary Stuart as the subject is because of her life history and multiple husbands, which makes her story "sexier". The pilot was directed by
Brad Silberling, with Sengupta and McCarthy as the writers and executive directors; Sengupta left the team in May 2013, leaving Laurie McCarthy as the sole showrunner. On February 9, 2013, it was announced that Australian actress
Adelaide Kane would be playing the main character. In interviews preceding the premiere, showrunner McCarthy described the show as deliberately taking liberties with history, and that it's more "entertainment" than history, Actress Megan Follows described the show as "
24 for the pre-Renaissance", as the show tends to extend historical events over a longer period of time. McCarthy added that the show is designed to be interesting to a contemporary audience, so viewers who aren't familiar with history will be able to watch and relate to the characters. Among the creative choices is the use of modern music in the show soundtrack, and its costumes. The ladies: Lola, Kenna, Greer, and Aylee, are loosely based on
Mary Beaton,
Mary Seton,
Mary Fleming, and
Mary Livingston who were
ladies-in-waiting to
Mary, Queen of Scots.
Casting Kane auditioned when she was filming a recurring role on the third season of MTV TV series
Teen Wolf. When Kane got the part, the
Teen Wolf writers wrote her character off the show. Kane is part Scottish on both her mother and father's sides, and is possibly a descendant of the real
Mary, Queen of Scots, through her mother. Kane did research on the historical Mary Stuart in preparing for the role. Toby Regbo was cast as Dauphin Francis before March 1, 2013, and British newcomer Celina Sinden was cast as Mary's lady-in-waiting Greer on that date. Torrance Coombs was announced as having been cast as Sebastian, one of the leading characters, in March 2013. Sebastian is an original character created for the show, so Coombs didn't have as much research in preparation for the role, though he faced the challenge of changing his performance from that in
The Tudors, another historical TV series he'd been involved in. Alan Van Sprang, who was cast as Henry II of France, modeled his performance after
Bill Clinton. In November 2013,
Amy Brenneman was announced as having been cast as Mary Stuart's mother,
Mary de Guise, a role that initially went to Brenneman's
Private Practice co-star
Kate Walsh, who was unable to commit due to conflicting filming commitments. On March 10, 2015, it was announced that
Rachel Skarsten has been cast as
Queen Elizabeth, a role that debuted in finale of season two and become a regular in season three. Showrunner McCarthy described the addition of Elizabeth as expanding the scope of the series, and that she would be part of season three's focus on the show's three queens. Most of the other interior scenes, including bedchambers, the Great Hall, and the Throne Room, were filmed in vast sets primarily at
Cinespace Film Studios'
Kipling Avenue facility.
Costumes Reign's lead costume designer is Meredith Markworth-Pollack. According to the Observer, Reign's custom blend of contemporary and historical fashion had mixed reviews from the show's audience. The show did not feature
historically accurate clothing, however, was well-received amongst younger audience members—particularly young fashion bloggers—who found the aesthetics of the show's costume-line pleasing. In the same article, Markworth-Pollack explains that there was a correspondence to the show's overall tone as seasons progressed. The costumes went from pretty, light fabrics befitting of young ladies to dark, more mature designs as Mary got older. Most of the costumes at the beginning of Reign's production were rentals found from different places in Europe, Los Angeles, and off-the-rack thrift stores. Once the show gained more traction, Markworth-Pollack was receiving vintage fabrics to work with from all over the world.
Music Executive producer Brad Silberling knew someone who worked with the American folk rock band
The Lumineers during the development period of "Scotland", the series opening theme song. In an interview about the song, the lead singer of the band, Wesley Schultz, commented, "The song also was special to us because it had this beautiful driving rhythm that Jer [Jeremiah Fraites] played that reminded us of battle drums, like something out of Braveheart – hence the strange name – Scotland,". Aside from the show's theme song which is aired for all four seasons, The Lumineers' have a second song called "Charlie Boy" which is also featured in the pilot of the first season. In an exclusive interview with the show's music supervisor, Madonna Wade Reed, she discusses how The Lumineers set the music tone of the show. Although the band did not create an original score for the show, Wade Reed explains that they used pre-existing songs throughout the show like the Vitamin String Quartet's cover of “Stubborn Love" in order to maintain that connection.
Editing for sexual content The show's pilot was distributed on May 20, 2013, to advertisers and critics for promotion and to generate hype. The pilot was edited before its final airing on October 13, trimming the sexual content of the scene where Kenna masturbates after witnessing a bedding ceremony. A later episode of the season, 1.13 "The Consummation", has two versions: an on-air cut for television broadcast, and an online streaming version with additional sexual content that was made available on the CW's website a few hours later. This action was criticized by the
Parents Television Council for putting sexual content online "where presumably children will be able to watch them with no rating or blocking capability". ==Broadcasts==