Here in the U.S. I’ve had the first season of The Tudors in my Netflix queue for a few months. I’m waiting for the right time to start watching it: I’m thinking maybe dead of winter, when it’s too cold to go outside and what better way to wile away the hours than watch the romantic escapades of a bloated English king.
(As I wrote that, I realized it didn’t sound all that enticing — and indeed, if you know even just a tiny bit about Henry VIII, what I wrote isn’t far from the truth.)
Of course, there was a lot of religion and politics influencing Henry’s actual reign, but with a Showtime series, you know the focus is going to be on the Romance! Girls! Sex!
This morning, there was short piece in the Guardian about historian David Starkey’s dismay with the series. Starkey is one of the foremost authorities on Tudor history, having written books of his own and produced a well-received series on Henry’s six wives that was shown in the U.S. on PBS. He says and I quote, “The Tudors is terrible history with no point. It’s wrong for no purpose. I’ve got no problem with getting history wrong for a purpose – Shakespeare often got things wrong for a reason. But it’s the randomised arrogance of ignorance of The Tudors. Shame on the BBC for producing it.” The article later points out that the series wasn’t produced by the Beeb, just funded.
I’m dismayed to hear this — but not surprised. The BBC has proved that historical dramas can be not only interesting, but entertaining with Rome. (If you haven’t seen Rome, definitely make the effort — Roman history isn’t my strong point, but I found this series engaging, well done, and interesting enough to get me to read up on Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and friends.) I’d love to see a similar series with the Tudor era’s historical figures — there’s so much there! Not just the sex and romance, but the intrigue, political machinations that changed the world, religious upheaval, and the arts, oh my God, the arts. Good for Starkey speaking up; but I’m still going to watch it. Jonathan Rhys Meyers anyone?
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