The Tudors: Season 3

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Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Ratings

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6.0	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Ratings

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The Tudors: Season 2

Now Playing: The Tudors: Season 2

Season Details & Credits

SHOWTIME | Season Premiere Date: March 22, 2009

Starring: James Frain, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Max von Sydow

Summary: The third season finds Henry preparing to marry his third wife, Jane Seymour, followed by Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard.

Creator: Michael Hirst and Michael Hirst

Genre(s): Drama, Suspense

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Season 3 Episodes

tbd
S3:E8. The Undoing of Cromwell
Air Date: May 24, 2009
tbd
S3:E7. Protestant Anne of Cleves
Air Date: May 17, 2009
tbd
S3:E6. Search for a New Queen
Air Date: May 10, 2009

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Linda Stasi

The Tudors, Showtime's all-of-the-above series, comes roaring back Sunday night as fresh as its first season. Read full review

Aubry D'Arminio

Despite taking place during the king's historically yucky later life (sexing up an ulcerated leg is hard), season 3 stays hot. Read full review

Todd R. Ramlow

This relationship between king and subjects is the driving concern of Season Three, and marks a welcome departure from the show’s previous focus on the personal drives and desires of Henry VIII. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Even those whose historical knowledge goes no further than the whole "six wives" thing can ascertain that the future doesn't bode well for poor Jane, but the particulars remain fascinating amid all the bodice ripping, torture and jockeying for the king's favor. Read full review

David Hinckley

It makes for lively drama, and, given what was at stake for religion and royalty, its historical significance remains legitimate. It just gets hard to watch sometimes, because even though most drama is fueled by its villains, The Tudors needs a few more characters we could actually like. Read full review

Mary McNamara

The Tudors remains lush and bejeweled, so much so that at times one fears it will simply collapse under its own weight, and, you know, we still have a few wives to go. Read full review

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User Reviews

[anonymous]

Dec 3, 2009

I agree wuth the New York Daily News :Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Henry superbly.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

RachelC

Nov 23, 2009

Can I book a hotel in hell too Jonny... or is it exclusive to Henry Tudor? Love series three, you get better with each project... keep up the good work :)

0 of 0 users found this helpful

[Anonymous]

Jul 6, 2009

Love this show.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Dec 21, 2009

The liberties taken with the true history are surprising, its a good story without any 'editing'.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

FilipeNeto

Feb 9, 2019

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 sonsThis 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

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

AdamW

Nov 28, 2009

Its just not The Tudors anymore, Anne Boleyn brought such life to the show that is now lost after her death at the end of Season Two.

1 of 1 users found this helpful

Seasons & Episodes

66

Series Overview
Season 4

63
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: April 11, 2010
Season 3

74
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: March 22, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E8. The Undoing of Cromwell
  Air Date: May 24, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E7. Protestant Anne of Cleves
  Air Date: May 17, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E6. Search for a New Queen
  Air Date: May 10, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E5. Problems in the Reformation
  Air Date: May 3, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E4. The Death of a Queen
  Air Date: April 26, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E3. Dissension and Punishment
  Air Date: April 19, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E2. The Northern Uprising
  Air Date: April 12, 2009
- tbd
  S3:E1. Civil Unrest
  Air Date: April 5, 2009
Season 2

68
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: March 30, 2008
Season 1

64
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 1, 2007