"The Tudors" (2007-2010) - Showtime Drama Series on Henry VIII's Reign


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If anyone gets The History Channel International, they are showing a four-part series called "Worst Jobs in History". Part 3 is "The Tudors", covering life in Tudor England. It should repeat again this morning.

As much as I whine about my 'modern' life, I would really be unhappy as a scullery maid back then!!
 
I'll be very honest about this mini-series: It's a piece of crap.

Why the producers even bothered with the script is beyond me.:rolleyes:
 
GlitteringTiaras said:
I'll be very honest about this mini-series: It's a piece of crap.

Why the producers even bothered with the script is beyond me.:rolleyes:

So, is Showtime just casting Henry VIII as their latest historical stud?
 
Actually, dear members, according to the records, Henry was actually a bit of a puritan-if that is the right word. Of course in his day, he did come to the throne just before he was eighteen, he was a pretty enough fellow. something like six ' two" I think. Just an inch short of Prince William. Of course as he got older it all caught up with him. He, for dynastic reasons, should have seperated from poor Catherine-yes it was unfair!!!- years before he did and if Anne would not warm his bed early enough he should have-for purely dynastic reasons- gotten in with somebody else-on the right side of the blanket as it were. But then in movie land we are interested in looking at splendid horney drop dead gorgeous male specimens-not to mention luscious and buxom honeys as unclad as possible in the most compormising positions (preferraly with each other) they are entertainment and historic facts are a side show. Cheers.
 
I don't think Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is hot at all.

Plus he's too short to be Henry VIII. Back then, the average height would be around 5'4" and Henry was 6'2", so he should be one of the tallest, if not the tallest in his court.

Oh and Anne Boleyn has blue eyes... she was famous for her dark eyes that Elizabeth I inherited. So yeah...
 
CrownPrinceLorenzo said:
I don't think Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is hot at all.

Plus he's too short to be Henry VIII. Back then, the average height would be around 5'4" and Henry was 6'2", so he should be one of the tallest, if not the tallest in his court.

Oh and Anne Boleyn has blue eyes... she was famous for her dark eyes that Elizabeth I inherited. So yeah...
I thought the same when I saw/hear about it.

Than who would better to play the film characters than the present cast?

Btw. in the other film about Boleyn sisters http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f61/other-boleyn-girl-11351.html?highlight=boleyn+girlhttp://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f61/other-boleyn-girl-11351.html?highlight=boleyn+girl Henry is playing by Eric Bana.
 
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magnik said:
I thought the same when I saw/hear about it.

Than who would better to play the film characters than the present cast?

Btw. in the other film about Boleyn sisters http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f61/other-boleyn-girl-11351.html?highlight=boleyn+girl Henry is playing by Eric Bana.

I think the girl playing Anne Boleyn is cute/mysterious-looking enough. I think brown contacts would've made it better.

As for Henry, I do not know of any tall, hunky, redheaded actor to play Henry. :lol:
 
My husband and I have been watching the show and I like it as a drama but as far as history goes the show takes a huge liberty by making Margaret (the Kings sister) marry the King of Portugal. I read on Wikipedia that the show combined Henry VIII's two sisters (Mary and Margaret) to make a more interesting character. I wish the show would have focused on one of the sisters instead of making a new 'faux' Margaret.
 
RoyalKnottie said:
My husband and I have been watching the show and I like it as a drama but as far as history goes the show takes a huge liberty by making Margaret (the Kings sister) marry the King of Portugal. I read on Wikipedia that the show combined Henry VIII's two sisters (Mary and Margaret) to make a more interesting character. I wish the show would have focused on one of the sisters instead of making a new 'faux' Margaret.

Maybe the producers were too cheap to hire another actress to play Mary.:ermm:
 
I think it was not a good idea to merge the two sisters into one character. If you are pitching it as history, at least try to be acurate
 
EmpressRouge said:
Maybe the producers were too cheap to hire another actress to play Mary.:ermm:

I would've played Mary :lol:. I would be a cheap actress as well! :lol: Just to be able to get close to JRM :wub:
I still haven't seen the show yet.
 
How many episodes are in the series? I believe they are on five now...does it go to 6?
 
CrownPrinceLorenzo said:
I think the girl playing Anne Boleyn is cute/mysterious-looking enough. I think brown contacts would've made it better.

As for Henry, I do not know of any tall, hunky, redheaded actor to play Henry. :lol:

Actually, Steven Waddington who portrayed the Duke of Buckingham, could of played Henry. He is quite tall, hunky and with color, red headed. He played Edward II and he was also in the Last of the Mohicans.

QUITE HUNKY!!! ;)
 
He also played Ivanhoe. I have yet to see this series; I don't subscribe to Showtime. Seems like nothing else is on the network. Sounds interesting though. I will buy it if/when it come out on dvd.
 
RoyalKnottie said:
My husband and I have been watching the show and I like it as a drama but as far as history goes the show takes a huge liberty by making Margaret (the Kings sister) marry the King of Portugal. I read on Wikipedia that the show combined Henry VIII's two sisters (Mary and Margaret) to make a more interesting character. I wish the show would have focused on one of the sisters instead of making a new 'faux' Margaret.

What? Now I know why the promos didn't make sense. I was wracking my brain to figure out why they had Mary kill off the ancient King of France in their wedding bed when he died of old age later.

Either Margaret or Mary would have been interesting enough on their own.
 
Once again I was sucked into watching this awful show on OnDemand (episode 9).

Poor JRM. He looks like a hobbit morphed into turtle. Don't get me started on those puffy pirate shirts he wears, and when he stands next to the other 6'ft tall actors he looks so out of place (like a scrawny freshman standing in line with a bunch of bulky senior football jocks in high school.) And those male bloomers the costume designer made for him, :lol: , could his legs be anymore skinner.

Gabrielle Anwar is awful as Henry's sister. I had no idea they had self-tanner back in those days.

The only good thing about this series: If you need a good laugh and don't mind major historical inaccuracies, this show is for you.
 
I thought Jonathan Rhys-Myers was rather good looking, and convincing as a monarch. I think the premise of the show was that it was all made up stuff. The voice over in the beginning goes something like "people only know the end". Showtime isn't claiming to be making a documentary about the Tudors. It's an entertainment show. The political backstabbings quite interesting.
 
What? Now I know why the promos didn't make sense. I was wracking my brain to figure out why they had Mary kill off the ancient King of France in their wedding bed when he died of old age later.

Either Margaret or Mary would have been interesting enough on their own.

Exactly! I was so confused why either of Henry VIII sisters were married to the King of 'Portugal' according to the show. I researched this for like an hour and couldn't find any English Princess ever marrying a King of Portugal.

It was so fustrating to me becuase I couldn't figure out how the show was going to introduce later royals like Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI.

Sad to say though, my cable company finally realized that I was getting showtime for free (long story) and shut it off. It wasn't that great of a show to subscribe.
 
It was so fustrating to me becuase I couldn't figure out how the show was going to introduce later royals like Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI.

I hadn't even thought of that! It will be interesting to see how they introduce Mary Queen of Scots when Henry VIII was looking for her as his son's bride.

But that was when Henry was an old man so a Henry VIII in old age will probably not interest this show's producers.

Henry VIII had decidedly little sex appeal in the last decade of his life. :ermm:
 
Showtime isn't claiming to be making a documentary about the Tudors.

Historical drama doesn't have to be true to every fact but it can stick a good deal closer to the actual story than this show has done and still produce an enthralling drama.

The original BBC mini-series, the Wives of Henry VIII is an excellent example of that.

At a certain point, one wonders whether these producers would have been better off creating a totally fictional royal family like the first Blackadder series.
 
How strange that Canada has seen it before it was broadcast in the UK, it will be on BBC 2 this Friday, for as far as I know the first time. Am looking forward to it.:flowers:



BBC - BBC TWO - WHATS ON


I thought Jonathan Rhys-Myers was rather good looking, and convincing as a monarch. I think the premise of the show was that it was all made up stuff. The voice over in the beginning goes something like "people only know the end". Showtime isn't claiming to be making a documentary about the Tudors. It's an entertainment show. The political backstabbings quite interesting.
 
So far I'm not particularly impressed with the series, it's very glossy with little substance. Although Jonathan Rhy Meyers is a pleasure to watch!
 
My husband and I have been watching the show and I like it as a drama but as far as history goes the show takes a huge liberty by making Margaret (the Kings sister) marry the King of Portugal. I read on Wikipedia that the show combined Henry VIII's two sisters (Mary and Margaret) to make a more interesting character. I wish the show would have focused on one of the sisters instead of making a new 'faux' Margaret.
Actually none of Henry VIII sister married any Portuguese king! This series has such a bad research... Mary married a much older king, but it was the French Louis XII!... How come do they end portraying a disgusting old king as being Portuguese, when it has absolutely no historical background?? :eek:
 
It started airing in Brazil last week and I thought it to be incredibly boring. I'll try to keep on watching to see if I can change my mind (but for the comments in the thread, I hardly will...)
 
I like Sam Neil as Wolsly though and Jeremy Northam as Henry Moore. But it is disappointing not what we are used to from the bbc


It started airing in Brazil last week and I thought it to be incredibly boring. I'll try to keep on watching to see if I can change my mind (but for the comments in the thread, I hardly will...)
 
I've watched the first two episodes & I've got mixed feelings. I can't see any justification for distorting historical facts it's confusing & unsatisfying to the viewer :bang: On the other hand, I don't have a problem with the series taking a few liberties i.e. the portrayal of some of Henry's relationships, because no one knows for sure. I'm all for making history accessible, and if it takes an attractive Henry to get people watching - no problem. My only other gripe is that there's so many films/dramas about the Tudors (particularly Henry & Elizabeth). It'd be good if a few more juicy characters from history got a look in.
 
I thought Jonathan Rhys-Myers was rather good looking, and convincing as a monarch.

Maybe, but taking into account the image of Henry VIII we know from paintings and portraits - I find it hard to believe it's Henry, since JRM is really handsome.

How many episodes does The Tudors consist of? I've finished watching the second and he hasn't started his relationship with Anne Boleyn yet :ermm:
 
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