The Tudors, Season 2

In the second season of Showtime's fine series The Tudors, a subtitle "The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn" could be used. Over the course of ten episodes and three years, Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), marries King Henry VIII (John Rhys-Davies), which leads to his excommunication from the Catholic church, becomes queen, bears him a daughter (the future Queen Elizabeth), has a series of miscarriages, gains his suspicion, is arrested, tried and executed.

It's quite a wild ride, and the series, created by Michael Hirst, does a terrific job of showing each step of the way. There's the requisite court intrigue, as the supporters of the King's first wife, Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy), work to stop him. These include Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam), who is so principled he can not countenance defying the Pope (Peter O'Toole, in a deliciously hammy performance).

On the King's side are his trusted secretary, Thomas Cromwell (excellently played by James Frain) and Boleyn's father (Nick Dunning), who sees his daughter as a way to gain more power for himself.

The first half of the season is devoted to the battle of wills between the King and Rome. Henry persuades, with twisted arms here and there, most of the bishops in England to accept the annulment of his marriage. He installs a minor priest, Thomas Cranmer, as Archbishop of Canterbury to do his bidding (O'Toole, in a mistake, signs off on Cranmer's appointment, falsely thinking a "nobody" can do no harm). Once the king is made head of the church, he rids himself of his opponents with the axe, having Cardinal Fisher and More beheaded (More's story is told in more depth in the film The Man for All Seasons).

Things look rosy for the King and Queen, although there are those who try to eliminate her. O'Toole says, "The king's whore--why doesn't somebody just get rid of her?" (echoing O'Toole's line in Becket, "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?") As in Becket, someone takes him up on it, and assassination attempts are made, unsuccessfully. But where assassins fail, the inability of Anne to bear a male heir does her in. False accusations of adultery and incest are branded against her, and Cromwell leads an inquisition that leads to the unjust executions of several, including Anne's brother, and finally herself.

Some of this is spurred by his attraction to Lady Jane Seymour (Anita Briem), which just shows Henry as a cad who likes to move on to fresher pastures. A day after Anne's execution, he announces his betrothal to Jane, which is about as tacky as you can get.

The Tudors works on all levels--well written, acted, directed, and with an eye for period detail. I would like to point out a small performance by George Irving as Master Kingston, the constable of the Tower of London, who looks after Anne as she awaits execution. He does his duty with the kind of unflappable dignity one sees in morticians, but even he can't help but be moved by her plight, and is seen struggling to hold back tears as she makes her last speech before losing her head.

I can't vouch for how accurate this all this--time is a slippery thing in The Tudors, mostly marked by how Princess Elizabeth ages. I was surprised to later learn that Anne was only queen for three years. I'm also wondering when Henry started to get fat--Rhys-Davies plays him as a vigorous man, and this series ends when he was 45 (he only has another dozen or so years to live). Also, the producers cast a very pretty young girl, Sarah Bolger, as Princess Mary, the daughter of Katherine. It is well known in history that Mary was no looker.