Royal Entertainment in the Tudors

March 24th, 2008 at 09:52am Richard Pulfer

Anyone who thinks a lesson in sixteenth century Reformation isn’t a steamy pitch for prime time hasn’t seen Showtime’s The Tudors. The period piece follows King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) early into his reign, as he annuls his marriage to the dutiful and somewhat naïve Catherine of Aragorn (Maria Doyle Kennedy) for the worldly yet manipulative Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer). The movers and shakers in King Henry’s court react, as some vie for power and others stand for principle. Particularly noteworthy is Peter O’Toole’s engrossing portrayal of the presumptive Pope Paul III on the receiving end of the Reformation. One small problem is the extremely fluid timeline, which eclipses entire years within a span of two or three episodes. The Tudors airs on Showtime Sunday March 30^th at 8:00 PM.    

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