Michael Hirsts 4 year epic dramatisation of the life and wives of King Henry VIII has drawn it’s last breath! The Tudors has been criticised for many reasons such as historical inaccuracy and being overly racy (all of which is, to a point, fair). What these critics have failed to grasp here is that this is not a dry historical drama documentary, what we are presented with is a visual masterpiece drama that just happens to be set in one of the most interesting socio-political periods in English history.
With historical inaccuracies and such put to one side, the man behind both Elizabeth movies and his associated directors (some of whom have worked on other top grade TV dramas such as Rome and Dexter) produce a fluid, engaging storyline that always leaves you wanting more. The acting is superb. Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ Henry is fabulous; particularly as you follow him through each season and he gets older and wiser. His performance in the final episode is so powerful as to move anyone to tears and, in this episode alone, he would win my nomination for TV actor of the year for 2010. The supporting cast aren’t anything to sniff at either; as she grows up, Sarah Bolger’s character of the Princess Mary becomes ever more complex and twisted and, as a viewer, you can really feel the conflict of her nature and her religious convictions. Henry Cavill is truly fantastic as Henry’s long suffering best friend, Charles Brandon. If there’s one character you can never take a dislike to, it is this man; he is probably what most men would aspire to be. The characters of each of the wives are also very different and detailed, each attaching to the audience in a different way...
• Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) - Henry’s first wife and loyal to a fault, you can’t help but feel for the Queen as Henry does all he can to get rid of her to allow him to marry Anne Boleyn. Kennedy portrays Catherine as a kind queen who’s thoughts are always of others and never herself. If Charles Brandon is the man that we all want to be, then Catherine of Aragon is probably the woman.
• Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) - You just have to hate this woman! Manipulating and controlling the King for her own religious / political ends; you know she’s got it coming and you are just waiting for the axe to fall. Dormers performance is faultless.
• Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis) - Despite what is probably the weakest acting performance of the six wives, Rhys Meyers’ performance carries the expression of their relationship to the audience so deeply that, when she dies, you know that a large part of the King dies with her.
• Anne of Cleaves (Joss Stone) - Stone’s performance was, to me, surprisingly good. She portrays Anne of Cleaves as a friendly Queen who wants to please her husband. As time goes on it is carefully hinted at that she would have made Henry a good wife had he been in a ‘better frame of mind’. The audience is always left feeling a bit sorry for her.
• Kathryn Howard (Tamzin Merchant) - Merchant’s performance here is, again, fantastic, creating a character that you just want to slap. Howard is portrayed as a petulant child that is in way over her head and, as with Boleyn, you are happy to see her die (perhaps even more so because she’s just so damned irritating!)
• Katherine Parr (Joely Richardson) - Richardson plays Parr as an, initially reluctant and quiet wife; the audience is made to really feel for her as she looks after Henry’s children and, as he ages, Henry himself.
The nature of the series has evolved through it’s run in the same way that Henry’s character has; starting as very young and racy. Through the third and fourth series a far more serious tone begins to develop as if the whole programme is directed as a mirror for Henry’s state of mind. I would recommend this series highly to anyone.
Coming next on TV Reviews... TREME!
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