Just as I loved HBO's "Rome" before it, I adore the drama of Showtime's "The Tudors". If you haven't watched it, GO! Hurry! Do it now! Sex, love, and rock and roll all rolled into gorgeous costumes for your amusement! What's not to love? I started watching the moment it came on (I was so crazed for the show, I TiVo'd the PREVIEW episode...sick!) and I've been hooked from the first frame. The performances are all delicious, with shout outs to the bewitching Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn and Sam Neill as scheming Cardinal Wolsey. I am also really intrigued by the casting of Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII...he wouldn't have been my first choice judging on face alone (that would have gone to Steven Waddington--who played the tragic Duke of Buckingham--he's a ringer for VIII!) but, what Jonathan has brought to the spirit of the role is formitable and I applaude the producer's for going for what was INSIDE the actor, instead of casting the nearest portrait.
My biggest gripes are with the history the show is messing with. I can't get enough of the Tudor mystic and have spent (wasted) a goodly portion of my time reading various books on the subject (might I recommend "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", by Alison Weir, "Elizabeth; The Struggle for the Throne" by David Starkey, "The Tudors" by Antonia Fraser to name a few of my favorites!)So, I can nit-pic (I did it with "Rome" as well!). The first thing that springs to mind (I just watched last week's episode) is how disconcerting it is to have the wrong Tudor sister married to Charles Brandon (Duke of Suffolk). In the Showtime series, Henry's sister Margaret marries the elderly King of Portugal as a duty to her brother, the King, and after his death (wait 'til you see how he dies!), she marries Charles Brandon for love (aw!). They have hot sex and a great dynamic--the problem? Charles Brandon married Henry's sister MARY--who had married the elderly King of France (Louis XII). MARGARET married the King of Scotland, her granddaughter was Mary, Queen of Scots...it's not like she didn't accomplish anything? So, why'd they cut Mary out but, give Margaret her story?
Much of the story is being telescoped and shrunk into a smaller timeline--in reality it takes nearly 6 years for Anne and Henry to hook up. SIX YEARS?! Yeah, I can see why they'd want to move that along. The nerd in me misses some of the flavor and depth of the story I got from my books but, the TV junkie in me LOVES the drama! And there is SUCH great drama to be had in this series! I get happy whenever Henry throws a fit, or watching the Duke of Norfolk plot with Anne's father to bring Wolsey down. There is something for everyone in this series! The double-dealing and treachery of politics coupled with the double-dealing and treachery of sex! Watch the show!
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