The Tudors is a Showtime original historical fiction series that is based upon the reign of King Henry VIII of England. The show is named after the Tudor dynasty and was created by Michael Hirst.
There are four seasons of The Tudors. Season one covers the reign during the period when the King has much international conflict and political intrigue to deal with. In search of having a son to be an heir King Henry has several affairs and finally fathers an illegitimate child who later dies.
In season two, Henry VIII is the head of the Church of England which comes after his break with the Catholic Church who did not allow him to divorce. Season three covers even more affairs of the king as he continues his search to heir a son. Edward VI his son is born in this season. It also chronicles the beginning of his dangerous relationship with Katherine Howard.
Season four, the final season, focuses even more on his relationship with Katherine Howard and their very unhappy marriage. After that he moves on to a more successful marriage with Katherine Parr. This season also focuses on the invasion of France and who will rule the kingdom after Henry's death.
The main stars of the series are as follows:
Henry VIII of England – Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Katherine of Aragon – Maria Doyle Kennedy
Anne Boleyn – Natalie Dormer
Jane Seymour – Anita Briem (Season 2)
Jane Seymour – Annabelle Wallis (Seasons 3 and 4)
Anne of Cleves – Joss Stone
Katherine Howard – Tamzin Merchant
Katherine Parr – Joely Richardson
As with most historical TV series The Tudors many times take a deviation from real history and goes with fiction to make the story more exciting for viewers. There have been liberties taken with character names, relationships, appearance and event timelines. Time is also compressed in the series so it sees as if certain events happened much closer together than they really did in history.
The Tudors ran from 2007-2010 and all four seasons are now available on DVD. You can also find reruns on Showtime and Netflix has a couple of seasons as well. When The Tudor debuted on April 1, 2007 it was the highest rated Showtime series debut in three years.
The Tudors and its actors were nominated for two different golden monsters although they did not win. However in 2008 the Irish Film and Television awards they walked away with 7 different awards including Best Drama Series.