The Tudors

:

Season 2
  • Network: SHOWTIME
  • Series Premiere Date: Apr 1, 2007
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 83 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 83
  3. Negative: 22 out of 83
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User Reviews

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  1. WilliamB.
    Apr 7, 2008
    9
    This show is just as great this season as the first, and anything with the amazingly hot Natalie Dormer gets high marks.
  2. PeterG.
    Apr 12, 2008
    9
    I really enjoy this show. Its good history, and great acting.
  3. TudorsOnline
    Apr 30, 2008
    10
    The Tudors is a beautifully filmed, wonderfully written and superbly acted show documenting the life and times of King Henry VIII. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Natalie Dormer, Jeremy Northam and the entire cast add rich layers to these characters in ways that seem impossible. The show was fantastic in its first season but has only become more mesmerizing in its sophomore year.
  4. KarenC.
    May 2, 2008
    10
    Awesome show
  5. WendyF.
    May 3, 2008
    7
    JRM is just not believable in the role of Henry - too short and too whiney.
  6. LatriceR.
    Jun 8, 2008
    10
    THE BEST EVER!!!! LOVE THE TUDORS!!!! Great Actors, Beautiful Scenes, Beautiful Costumes.Please keep making more of these type series. And Please bring back THE TUDORS SOON!!!!
  7. StephenR.
    May 2, 2008
    10
    Fantastic show, maybe not all that historically accurate, but Fantastic nonetheless!!
  8. DanS
    Jun 3, 2008
    10
    The Tudors is Spectacular TV Fair as are all Showtime series. Thank God for Showtime. My Fav Dexter. Also Californication. Hell they are all excellent!!!!!
  9. AnnetteS.
    May 30, 2008
    10
    Best show on TV.
  10. FranM.
    May 30, 2008
    10
    First rate drama. I am looking forward to MORE!
  11. CarlettaE.
    May 7, 2008
    10
    the show is breathtaking and the actors keep you on the edge of your seat in anticipation. Bravo Tudors.
  12. AS
    May 7, 2008
    8
    I love this show. It is interesting to see the Tudors in a soap opera like setting. I would only like to see more historical accuracy.
  13. JanetS.
    May 8, 2008
    10
    This is a very amazing show, how they put History of the Tudors in 1 hour is amazing, it is also very exciting to watch.
  14. PatP.
    May 9, 2008
    10
    Great way to get all that history I hated in school laced with sex.
  15. Jose-IgnacioP
    Jun 11, 2008
    10
    Amazing show, it´s great. The cast was superb. History comes alive!
  16. KaseyD
    Jun 14, 2008
    10
    Amazing show. The 2nd season was way more accurate than the first. Jonathan Rhys Myers, Natalie Dormer and Jeremy Northam all give amazing performances. I am in love with this show.
  17. Lynnette
    Jun 26, 2008
    10
    Fantastic series, original ideas on how to tell the life of Henry, great performances from all leading cast and really addictive. I will be looking forward to the next series for sure.
  18. seanf.
    Aug 16, 2008
    10
    Great writing. absolute fantastic writing all round especially king henry. Very engaging series. Cant wait for the next one.
  19. [anonymous]
    Mar 22, 2009
    3
    Really guys? Whats with the 10s? Henry the 8th wasn't some whiny twerp. He was a big powerful dude. The acting in this is sub par at best. The show goes nowhere fast, and focuses on the most boring crowd pleasing aspect of the story. Don't believe the myriad high scores. I watched a whole season and I don't know why. There is zero payoff.
  20. KathyS.
    Apr 13, 2008
    10
    This is the best series I have seen on TV. I think the acting is superb and the series is addictive. I cannot wait until Sunday night.
  21. Norma
    May 12, 2008
    10
    Can't wait for each new episode. The best series on television!
  22. LeonaG
    May 27, 2008
    10
    It opens up alot of the historical lies that I took as truth. Anne was a victom, she was a pawn for others to gain power. since watching the show I have done some researching of my owm, thats how I can say that she was a victom. I am my own families historian, have and am still doing out genealogy tree. History should be taught by doing ones own tree, it makes it come alive in a much It opens up alot of the historical lies that I took as truth. Anne was a victom, she was a pawn for others to gain power. since watching the show I have done some researching of my owm, thats how I can say that she was a victom. I am my own families historian, have and am still doing out genealogy tree. History should be taught by doing ones own tree, it makes it come alive in a much better way. If a lie is exposed then the truth should take its place. My heart goes to the Anne B family, and her cousin. There should be an honorable ceremony for them. I wonder how hard would it take to over turn her vertic from guilty to not guilty, but guilty by association.… Expand
  23. KennyW
    May 27, 2008
    10
    Wow, eye opener to history. Hope the Ann B family lines can now rest that she was not what they said she was. She to was a victom of circumstances, hay like a good daughter she died for her father, how well he took her to her death in so many ways.
  24. TrudyM.
    Jun 11, 2008
    10
    2nd season was amazing!!! If you haven't seen it watch it. You will be hooked. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is the hottest actor out there.
  25. kaleyF.
    Jun 15, 2008
    10
    I LOVE this show! It's not always completely accurate but who cares! The actors are amazing. Best show on TV for sure!
  26. FilipeNeto
    Feb 9, 2019
    4
    This series was produced by a Canadian TV channel and had four seasons. It's name corresponds to the House of Tudor, one of the most notable royal English dynasties. For those who don't know or don't remember, this dynasty gave five kings to England: Henry VII, Henry VIII and his three sons (Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I). But despite that, the series focuses entirely on Henry VIII andThis series was produced by a Canadian TV channel and had four seasons. It's name corresponds to the House of Tudor, one of the most notable royal English dynasties. For those who don't know or don't remember, this dynasty gave five kings to England: Henry VII, Henry VIII and his three sons (Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I). But despite that, the series focuses entirely on Henry VIII and this makes the title's choice a mistake. If it's about Tudors, where is Henry VII and why the series ends with the death of Henry VIII? Throughout the four seasons, there are dozens of actors entering and leaving, giving life to several people who were part of the court during the life of a king that most of people knows best by his six queens. But if there is something that deserves congratulations is the cast's performance. The highlight is for Jonathan Rhys Meyers (the volcanic king Henry), Henry Cavill (Charles Brandon), Peter O'Toole (in a brief role, as Pope Paul III) and the six actresses who gave life to the six queens who succeeded the throne and bed of Henry VIII: Maria Doyle Kennedy (Catherine of Aragon), Natalie Dormer (Anne Boleyn), Annabelle Wallis (Jane Seymour), Joss Stone (Anne of Cleves), Tamzin Merchant (Catherine Howard) and Joely Richardson (Catherine Parr).

    Now let's talk about the script. Here, the series makes a lot of mistakes (some more excusable than others). First of all, it exaggerates in the sex scenes. It's too much gratuitous sex for no reason, totally out of context and anachronistic, in situations and acts that would never happen in the sixteenth century. Okay, we aren't saints and we know that sex sells, but do they really need to turn queens and ladies into sidewalk whores? Worse than that is the enormous distortion of historical events and facts. How could a sister of the King of England marry the aged King Manuel I of Portugal if that same king married only three times and always with daughters of the Catholic Kings of Castile? And the insulting way as the court of Portugal, the richest and most powerful country in the world at that time, was portrayed? There are dozens of moments when the script runs over history, justifying that with "dramatic purposes"... but this argument isn't enough to justify arbitrary changes in the way historical facts and figures are portrayed.

    Speaking of anachronism, let's look at some furniture more closely and we will see some baroque furniture (18th century) in scenarios that should correspond to a period almost three hundred years earlier. One of the most egregious examples is the bed placed in the room of Charles Brandon (4th season), clearly baroque and portraying, in the back, the British coat of arms of the House of Hanover. Just pause the video and watch. Another problem, even more evident, is the wardrobe of the cast, in regard to something as prosaic as the underwear. If you look closely at the scenes, especially sex scenes, the actors almost never have the underwear that any person of the sixteenth century should use. This is even more blatant in women, who should wear inner skirts and a kind of shorts which helped to hold the tights, together with the garter.

    Conclusion: this series is not about the Tudors but about the way we, in the twenty-first century, see the reign of Henry VIII. Almost everything is fiction. Forget history, forget everything and understand this: this series created a fictional story based on real historical facts and characters. It's sex-driven fiction, the way people like it. Want to know true history? Read a book.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Best TV Season of 2008
30
#30 Most Discussed TV Season of 2008
42
#42 Most Shared TV Season of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    40
    This is one historical drama that takes itself far more seriously than it deserves to, given the quality of the writing and the flatness of many performances.
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  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Gillian Flynn
    42
    Henry and Anne nag and harp and tongue each other. It's like asking us to root for a particularly vapid reality TV couple.
    Read full review
  3. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    75
    The acting, led by Rhys Meyers, is solid. The costumes and production are good and the dialogue smooth, though one wonders if clergy in the 16th century really used the word "newfangled."
    Read full review
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