An excellent drama's interpretation of history
I've studied History for the past 7 years and I have to say The Tudors is nothing new in terms of historical inaccuracies. I love it however in the sense that the acting is almost perfect alongside greate stories.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is the strongest lead in the series. He blows from hot to cold and is seen to be both arrogant and sympathetic as a character. He is joined by a phenomenal cast of Henry Cavill, Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn and a sympathetic performance from Sam Neill as Cardinal Wolsey.

The series is highly addictive even though time seems to move fast within the series, for instance you pass several years between several episodes. The first series charts the rise and fall of various members at court, including the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, Henry's wife Catherine as well as the rise of the Boleyn clan with their own form of religion and politics including the younger Thomas Cromwell.

The extras are good enough, but it would be nice is the series was a bit longer than just 10 episodes. If there is naything to be said against the series, in my honest opinion it seems to view everything from a very Catholic perspective. Although the church is shown to be corrupt at the period with Cardinals having wives and sons, it does become more sympathetic as Henry moves on with his reformation. Some people may find that annoying or one sided.

Historical accuracies included, with the morphing of Henry's two sisters into one and the death of Wolsey there is not much more liberty taken with history than there would be with a Man for all Seasons, or Shakespeare's historical accounts (that's not to put them on an equal par).

NAUGHTY BUT NICE!!!
Oooo errr, found this a very naughty interpretation of Henry VIII's life and was thoroughly entertained throughout... which I think was the point. I didn't watch this or expect this to be a history lesson!!! Do find it amazing that the people who harp on about how inaccurate it was probably watched the WHOLE series before saying how bad it was!!!!... that's because it was addictive and they enjoyed it really... but they are too high brow to say so!!!!

Get stuck in!
Excellent! Can be a bit slow at times and not entirely accurate, however well worth watching for any history buff or lover of period drama!
If you're never one to pass up a jacobian ruff, then this is for you!

Outstanding Entertainment
I've read many novels and biographies on the life and relationships of Henry VIII and if I wanted a historically accurate potrayal of the life of the late king I'm sure I could find hundreds at my disposal but let's be honest they can be deadly dull!!

This series does not claim to be an accurate account of the life of Henry VIII, it advertises itself clearly as a drama and a very steamy one at that. Also if you think about it for a woman to yield so much sexual power over a king that he would break from the Catholic Church, putting his monarchy and country at thread just in order to bed her she had to be pretty alluring and well worth the wait - so justifiably for me the sexual content in the show makes sense. I mean really do we think Henry simply made eyes at Anne Boleyn across the great hall and decided to make himself supreme head of the church because she had a nice pair of eyes - I don't think so.

Jonathan Rhys Myers is dark, brooding and a little dangerous as Henry yet still seems to have something of the spoilt little boy who became king striving to manipulate the world to his will. He is excellent in the role. Natalie Dormer is outstanding as Anne Boleyn - alluring, manipulative and just stunning she makes it believable that Henry would uproot his world for her. Sam Neill is a perfect Carinal Wolsey running the kings kingdom whilst he bed hops; pocketing many privelleges for himself - something Anne Boleyn will use in his downfall. Jeremy Northam's character of Thomas More is introduced well in this Series but will be explored more fully in Series 2.

There is no other television series that I wait with such excitement to view than this one - it is the highlight of my week when it's on BBC2 and these DVD's are essentials for my collection. As oppossed to a fuddy duddy interpretation of the relationships of Henry VIII as many documentaries can give, live a little and delve into this lush and beautiful drama series that will have your blood pressure rising.

Its good, well made, take it for what it is!
While there were some things about this series that had me pulling my hair out! I actually did enjoy this series. I am really into the Tudor history and I do know my fact from fiction. The part about Princess Margaret Tudor marrying with a Portuguese King left me thinking "Why OH Why"! Maybe eventually TV producers will listen and actually stick to fact. It seems crazy not to when the facts are just as exciting! It is sad that this has taken some of the gloss away from what is actually a really well made series.

Take it for what it is, there is still some historical ACCURACY in there and I like the fact they actually gave a mention to Henry's sisters, who both had amazing lives and are largely left out of all Tudor films completely (I do wish they had done it properly though :( ).

I think it is ok to accept some poetic licence though, The Tudors doesn't make claim to be historically accurate. But it is highly entertaining, beautifully done, the locations, costumes, casting (yes I know Henry is a bit suspect, blue eyes no red hair, but he does an ok job I think) Sam Neil is just Brilliant and Amazing as Wolsey!

I think they have enough detail in it and the script flows quite well, I think you really do get to know the characters and you get to like or hate them enough, which can be a hard thing to achieve.

The costumes are amazingly varied and beautiful. I think far superior to any I have seen before in Tudor films. I hope the costume department get credit for these as they really were fantastic. They may bordering on fantasy but...meh. Fantasy, Romance, Masques, was all the passion of Henry VIII so it is believable.

Anyway I would buy this and accept it for what it is, good fun, beautifully made and entertaining.

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