TV Review: The Tudors

From the spring of 2007 until the spring of last year, Showtime aired this series about Henry VIII (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers), his six wives, and his court. I own all four seasons on DVD, and still love watching it every now and then: the acting is decent, the costuming is lovely at times, and the end of season two was great. It is, of course, a bit trumped up for Holywood though, and there were some glaring errors: Henry's sister Margaret marrying the old king of Portugal for example; in reality, it was his sister Mary who married the old king of France. Margaret actually married the king of Scots. Not to mention the fact she smothers him to death to get out of being married to him. I also wasn't sure what to make of how Henry's being visited by the ghosts of his first three wives near the end of his life was done. Then there's the fact they killed Henry Fitzroy off at around 5 or 6 when in reality he lived to be 16 or 17. I also have a bit of beef with them having Meyers play Henry...while a fine actor and he played the part well, Meyers looks absolutely nothing at all like him. Surely out of all the British actors out there, they couldn't find one that at least somewhat fit both in looks and ability to play Henry well? Come on now. Nonetheless, the series is well worth watching for any fan of the Tudors and those that don't mind their history a bit like a soap opera, and I recommend it at least for the fun value of it. 3 out of 5 stars 🙂