“Cruelty. Passion. Treachery. It’s good to be king.”

The Tudors Season 1

Season 1 of The Tudors begins circa 1518, and chronicles the following ten years of King Henry VIII’s (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) reign of England. It depicts Henry’s struggles with affairs both foreign and domestic as both king and husband/father, as well as the various intrigues that are part of daily life at the Tudor court. Henry’s love for Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy), Queen of England, is waning, and he enjoys the company of his various mistresses until Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) captures his heart, and Henry begins to frantically search for some sort of way to be released from his marriage to Catherine in order to marry Anne. As Henry quarrels with the Catholic Church, Cardinal Wolsey (Sam Neill), Henry’s main adviser, continues to guide Henry as supreme ruler of England and thwarts all betrayals and plots against the king. Wolsey also aids the king with his continuously changing alliances between the French and Spanish empires. Meanwhile, there are various other intrigues at court, involving both members of the royal family and their close friends and servants, and a never-ending chain of greedy and power-hungry schemers, all bidding their time until the right moment comes along for them to maximize their power and influence at court.

As season 3 of The Tudors is premiering on April 5, I thought it would be a good time to rewatch The Tudors in preparation for the third season. I had heard excellent things about The Tudors before watching the show, and even though Jonathan Rhys Meyers might not look the part of Henry VIII¹, he is truly phenomenal as the king of England. Natalie Dormer also does a brilliant job as Anne Boleyn, and her portrayal of Anne is my favorite to date². While I don’t really care for Catherine of Aragon historically, Maria Doyle Kennedy’s portrayal of Catherine absolutely broke my heart. The setting and costumes alone in this show are to die for, and it’s truly a brilliant show. As expected, there are some historical inaccuracies, but overall the show does a fairly good job of sticking to history, especially in comparison to other dramas about the Tudor era.

I highly recommend this show, whether you are looking for a good historical drama or a good drama, period. The drama moves along at a fairly steady pace, and it doesn’t overload the viewer with a cut-and-dried historical account of the schemes and plots that took place at the Tudor court during Henry’s reign. The dialog is excellent, the acting is superb, and the show is phenomenal overall!

Overall Rating: 10/10

1. Henry is pretty well known for being hugely overweight, and JRM is in excellent shape and pretty much the farthest thing from overweight! [↩]
2. Anne Boleyn is my favorite historical figure ever, so I do my best to be as well versed in all things Anne, both historically and in terms of her media depictions. [↩]

Tags: tv