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Thursday, October 21, 2010

TV Show Review: The Tudors Season 1


The Tudors
Showtime
Season 1
2007
Rated: Mature Audiences

Tudors Season 1 covers the time period of King Henry VIII’s reign during his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and through his early relationship with Anne Boleyn, just prior to his divorce from Catherine.

Having only seen the first three seasons so far, I have to say that the first season was my favorite. The animosity between Anne and Catherine was amazing and the Natalie Dormer (Anne) and Maria Doyle Kennedy (Catherine) played off of each other SO well. Sam Neill as Cardinal Wolsey was also phenomenal. And of course, the eye candy was Jonathan Rhys Myers and Henry Cavill!

The costuming is absolutely gorgeous. I want all of the dresses and head pieces etc. In my opinion they did a great job of sticking with period style – but I am not an expert on clothing. The scenery was very well done also. The only parts that I wasn’t a huge fan of were the CGI shots of castles and other sites that are no longer there. I know that they needed to use CGI, but I felt like they could have looked more clear rather that more CGI looking – I know they have that technology!

Tudors does speed up the time line of history and certainly does take some liberties with events and such. Some names of characters were changed for the viewer’s benefit and some characters were merged (Henry’s sisters Margaret and Mary became the single character of Margaret). Time did elapse faster in the show and the most notable instance is that Henry is not as old in the series at the time of the events as he was in real life (he is much younger probably to appeal to a younger audience). And as with any premium channel show, there is a fair share of nudity and sex – viewer beware!

Regardless of these liberties and small complaints, I loved this show! It is great fun to watch and has certainly generated a lot of buzz for the Hist-Fic community, which is never a bad thing. It has even led to the new Showtime drama The Borgias coming out in Spring 2011!

If you are a Hist-Fic fan and/or a lover of the Tudors, I think you will very much enjoy this show!








Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court

12 comments:

  1. I, too, LOVED this series. I was sad to see it over! Can't wait for the Borgias...

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  2. After reading a lot about Henry VIII I started to watch the series via Netflix. I made it through Season 1 an 2 but couldn't get in the mood to go further. I also loved it and my only complaint was that "Henry" never aged...it would be easier to hate him if he were really fat and ugly. I loved the way Doyle played Catherine, whenever I read anything dealing with her now I envision her face and character.

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  3. For me it's a toss up between seasons one and two for my favorite. I agree that Dormer and Kennedy did a great job with their characters and Dormer really continued that in season 2. Henry does begin to age some in season three and by the end of season four, he's almost not recognizable.

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  4. I loved the first season as well. I thought Jonathan Rhys Myers & Maria Doyle Kennedy made the series. I also loved the relationship between Henry & Charles, it was just as I imagined it reading history books.

    http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

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  5. I LOVED this series also! The first series was the best I agree!

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  6. Fabulous series, loved it.

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  7. Amy, Kelsey and Tribute Books Mama - I am sad that it is over too.

    Cortney Lyon - I too have an issue with him not aging - but I can get past that. I too envision her as Catherine too!

    Daphne - Dormer does a great job in season 2 as well - her last scene is her best! I'm glad to know that he does appear to age.

    Man of la book - I too enjoyed Henry and Charles - they had a very entertaining relationship.

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  8. The Tudors is such a good series. I am watching season 1 for the second time at the moment. :) Although not entirely accurate historically, it's well-scripted, the casting is perfect, and the costume design is TO DIE FOR!
    ~S.

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  9. ~xo.sorcha.ox - It is a well done drama and you are so right - GORGEOUS!

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  10. Gobbled up this series. True, it was in many ways History Light, but hey, you take what you can get and fill in what you know, they say thank you.
    Love your list of To Be Reviewed, and so much else about this blog!
    THANK YOU.

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  11. Delicious Romance - Thanks for the kind words!

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  12. I loved the Tudors (but like yourself I haven't watched the last season yet), even though it's historical inaccuracy annoys me at times. Natalie Dormer is my favourite Anne Boleyn ever, I think she truly captured how I've always imagined Anne to be. And the costumes? LOVELYYY, though not always historically accurate.

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