The Tudors
This costume drama features England's splendid Renaissance dynasty under King Henry VIII. Beginning in Season 1 when Henry VIII was growing desperate for an heir and growing distant from his first wife, the series moves quickly to the period when Anne Boleyn became his obsession. During this time Cardinal Wolsey rose to become the power behind his throne, ruling ruthlessly and nearly absolutely while Henry (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) for the most part followed the Cardinal's advice, maneuvering through a series of betrayals and plots against him. When Anne Boleyn plays much harder to get than any woman ever has, Henry begins to search for a way out of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he can make Anne his wife. Needing a divorce, Henry turns to Wolsey, who promises to help him create waves of backlash from the church, as well as the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and its overseas empire. Against this background gyrate the private lives and political intrigues of several members of the royal court and chancery. This includes Henry's friend and his sister Margaret's true love Charles Brandon, the Habsburg ambassadors, greedy and power-hungry schemers, their incidental victims and composer Thomas Tallis.
- Metascore66
- 2007-2010
- 4 seasons
- Showtime Networks
- Drama, Documentary, Action & Adventure
- TV-MA
This costume drama features England's splendid Renaissance dynasty under King Henry VIII. Beginning in Season 1 when Henry VIII was growing desperate for an heir and growing distant from his first wife, the series moves quickly to the period when Anne Boleyn became his obsession. During this time Cardinal Wolsey rose to become the power behind his throne, ruling ruthlessly and nearly absolutely while Henry (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) for the most part followed the Cardinal's advice, maneuvering through a series of betrayals and plots against him. When Anne Boleyn plays much harder to get than any woman ever has, Henry begins to search for a way out of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he can make Anne his wife. Needing a divorce, Henry turns to Wolsey, who promises to help him create waves of backlash from the church, as well as the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and its overseas empire. Against this background gyrate the private lives and political intrigues of several members of the royal court and chancery. This includes Henry's friend and his sister Margaret's true love Charles Brandon, the Habsburg ambassadors, greedy and power-hungry schemers, their incidental victims and composer Thomas Tallis.
Season 4 Episode Guide
10 Episodes 2010
Episode 1
Moment of Nostalgia
Sun, Apr 11, 2010 57 mins
Whitehall Palace, London 1540. Thirty years into the reign of King Henry VIII and it's been a long, hot summer: London is experiencing intense heat and there has been no rain for two months. But while his subjects wilt, the King's vigor remains undiminished. The Reformation goes on and Henry has just married the beautiful Catherine Howard, his fifth Queen, who is a mere seventeen years old. Catherine is different from earlier wives in more ways than age: far from being nobility she was 'discovered' by some of the King's friends in a boarding house for wayward young ladies. Joan Bulmer the new Queen's best friend from her youth, is hired as a lady in waiting; aside from her friendship she knows too much scandalous detail about Catherine's sexual past to be outside the court. The Queen's 'low' background combined with her youth and beauty, arouses a lusty familiarity in certain members of Henry's court. Most notably the King's handsome and ambitious new groom Thomas Culpepper, who makes no secret of his desire for the new Queen during an extended hunting trip visit by the royal entourage. Culpepper unleashes his sexual frustrations on an unfortunate local peasant woman whom he rapes and then murders her aggrieved husband. When the local Sheriff confronts Henry with these charges the King sides with his young courtier; protection he may come to regret.
Episode 2
Sister
Sun, Apr 18, 2010 55 mins
As the holidays approach, Henry insists that Anne of Cleves, who remained close with both Mary and Elizabeth, be invited to the court celebration of Christmas and New Year's. The King's festering leg ulcer causes him to cut short his activities and neglect his amorous young queen both socially and connubially. Her uncle, the elitist Earl of Surrey, seeks to supplant the Seymours and tries to cuckold Richard Seymour by seducing his wife. After a preliminary encounter, she rebuffs him only to take brother-in-law Thomas Seymour as her lover. Surrey's sense of his growing power leads him to circulate an unflattering poem about the Seymours referring to them as wolves and the Howard family to lions. Joan Bulmer breaks the vow of silence she made to Catherine about their sexual indiscretions before she was Queen by telling Lady Rochford about their amorous activities. After Culpepper becomes Rochford's lover, she indiscreetly tells him about the Queen's past and even perversely offers to arrange a clandestine encounter between them. As a sidebar, the Queen's relationship with Princess Mary becomes increasingly antagonistic.
Episode 3
Something for You
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 53 mins
Henry prepares for a politically important trip to Northern England and mend tie with the defeated rebels. He also wants to use the trip to settle border disputes wit his nephew, King James of Scotland. Henry elevates the Queen's arrogantly obnoxious uncle, the Earl of Surrey, who takes his his new title Knight of the garter, as a birthright, but shows little respect for his new appointment. Queen Catherine continues her dangerously passionate affair with Thomas Culpepper in the King's absence. While staying with Anne of Cleves at her estate on his journey north, Henry takes the opportunity to sleep with his former wife.
Episode 4
Natural Ally
Sun, May 2, 2010 50 mins
Henry's trip north to mend fences with his northern provinces appears to be going well, but Francis Derehan, Catherine's first lover, appears and coerces her into reluctantly appointing him to her chamber as a price for silence. The brash and immature young man soon becomes overly familiar with her and puts the Queen, who is still passionately involved with Culpepper, in jeopardy. The young Prince Edward catches a dangerous fever but the Seymour doesn't want to alarm the king on his diplomatic mission. Unfortunately this becomes a moot point, when King James refuses to meet him and the Scottish army begins to attack their southern neighbors along the border. A distraught Henry returns home to his ill Prince of Wales.
Episode 5
Bottom of the Pot
Sun, May 9, 2010 54 mins
After receiving a letter from an anonymous source the King decides to investigate the accusation that two other men knew Catherine 'carnally' while she was under the service of the Dowager Duchess, and he confines his Queen to her apartments with only Lady Rochford.
Episode 6
You Have My Permission
Sun, May 16, 2010 49 mins
Although Surrey is imprisoned for an assault on a distantly related nobleman for a perceived insult, Henry believes his fierce temperament would be more useful in the border war against the warring Scots than in prison. Now free, Surrey is victorious and brings back Scottish nobles to Henry as hostages in order to leverage a peace treaty to England's advantage. Henry is ecstatic when he learns of King James' death and the birth of the monarch's daughter, the future Mary, Queen of Scots. Bishop Gardner sees this as a sign from God and Henry presses the captured nobles to support an engagement between the infant Mary and young Prince Edward. He also permits Gardner to use torture to expose heretics in the court. Alarmed by Ambassador Chapuys at King Francis' new alliance with the Turks, Henry signs an alliance with the Spanish Holy Roman Emporer in the upcoming war with France in which England expects to regain its French provinces. Catherine Parr, married to the rich but dying Lord Latimer, is in love with Thomas Seymour and plans to marry him after her husband passes away, but the rich widow catches the King's eye as he pushes the reluctant Catherine toward marriage while exiling rival Seymour to a diplomatic post in Holland.
Episode 7
Sixth and the Final Wife
Sun, May 23, 2010 53 mins
A bellicose Henry eagerly sets out on an invasion of France as an ally to the Emporer Charles V. The King is motivated by his desire to reinvigorate himself in the face of failing health as well as his ambition to regain his French provinces. He confirms the line of succession with new wife Catherine Parr and entrusts her with the regency in his absence. Richard Rich and Bishop Gardner is unhappy with the choice of someone so inexperienced, and Gardner is especially suspicious of Catherine, believing she has Lutheran sympathies, especially after she appoints Reformationist ex-clergyman Hugh Latimer, as her personal chaplain. Henry and his 40,000 man army lay siege to the walled city of Boulogne, believing their artillery sufficient to overcome resistance. When the city continues to hold out, tunnels are dug as a wave of dysentery begins to assault the English army.
Episode 8
As It Should Be
Sun, Jun 6, 2010 49 mins
Henry continues to besiege Boulogne as idleness, starvation, and dysentery decimate his soldiers. He grows impatient with the pace of the tunneling, but eventually it is completed and the ordinance placed under the city. The resulting explosion causes the collapse of the town's walls and its surrender. Henry is ecstatic with his victory and wants to return to Britain as he abandons his plans to march on Paris. Charles has released Brigitte's father on the condition that she remain as they become lovers. The Queen covertly arranges for the Prince to have a tutor with Lutheran sympathies as she frustrates Bishop Gardiner's attempts to purge the Royal household of heretics. Henry returns to her in triumph so intoxicated with his victory that he ignores the news that the French Dauphin, after signing a unilateral treaty with the Emporer, is marching on the Earl of Surrey and the army of occupation.
Episode 9
Secrets of the Heart
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 57 mins
After Surrey leads an ill-advised offensive in France against superior forces, a board of inquiry relieves him of command, censures him for leaving the battlefield, and strips him of title of Knight of the Garter. Despite the defeat, Henry is able to get good terms from the French through a diplomatic negotiation which will eventually cede Boulogne back to France. Still chaffing at the verdict against him and believing that ailing Henry will die before the Prince comes of age, Surrey plots with other disgruntled nobles to attack Windsor and take custody of the future King. His plot is discovered, and he's imprisoned in the Tower awaiting trial. Bishop Gardiner gets the King's permission to arrest, question, and torture Anne Askew, an outspoken Lutheran Reformationist. Through her, Gardiner hopes to uncover evidence against the Queen's household, her sister, and ultimately the Queen herself.
Episode 10
Death of a Monarchy
Sun, Jun 20, 2010 56 mins
As Henry's health deteriorates, he grows depressed and introspective as the ghosts of the past come to haunt him, and various factions in the court try to position themselves favorably for the succession after his death. Bishop Gardiner continues to pursue Anne Stanhope and the Queen for heresy but is thwarted by some unforeseen circumstances. Sensitive to his legacy, the King commissions a portrait from Holbein as Charles Brandon's health decline too.
