THE TUDORS
SEASON TWO

Starring:
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Natalie Dormer, Henry Cavill, James Frain, Nick Dunning, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jeremy Northam and Peter O'Toole

Series Creator:
Michael Hirst

Out to buy on Blu-Ray and DVD 13/10/08

Episode 1
The King makes himself head of the Church of England while the Catholic Church fights a losing battle to control Henry VIII's desire for an annulment. Anne Boleyn demands that Henry breaks off contact with Katherine, so the noble Queen is banished from court. On top of that The Reformation is underway.

Episode 2
It's Christmas but the court is not very cheerful in the absence of a queen. Sir Thomas More makes an important decision and Thomas Cranmer visits Lutheran Germany. Henry has an argument with Charles Brandon and Henry and Anne visit France.

Episode 3
Henry can no longer be patient. With the Pope's blessing, he appoints Thomas Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry and Anne marry in secret, without even waiting for the annulment of Henry's first marriage. Anne gives birth to her and Henry's first child.

Episode 4
Henry and Anne's first child, a daughter named Elizabeth is baptised. Henry submits a bill to Parliament which will become his first 'Act of Succession'. According to this act, only the children from his marriage to Anne can inherit the throne. The act includes the requirement that every subject, on demand, takes an oath acknowledging the King's marriage to Anne and his supremacy in all thing secular and spiritual.

Episode 5
In the eyes of the Church, Henry's marriage to Anne is not legitimate. Both Thomas More and Bishop Fisher refuse to acknowledge Henry as the supreme head of the English Church. As a result, both are imprisoned in the Tower of London. Despite his marriage, Henry still finds plenty of beautiful women to look at.

Episode 6
Despite the Pope excommunicating Henry, the Reformation continues. Sir Thomas Cromwell is tasked to make the king and the Reformation more popular and he uses plays to achieve this goal. Henry has nightmares featuring Thomas More and Anne Boleyn becomes increasingly insecure as Henry continues to have affairs.

Episode 7
The English Reformation is in full swing. Queen Anne suffers from nightmares and feels threatened by Katherine and her daughter. Henry pays an unplanned visit to an old friend, Sir John Seymour, father of Jane Seymour.

Episode 8
Queen Anne is as cold as ice when she welcomes Jane Seymour as a new lady in waiting. Succession is the word on everyone's lips when the king is knocked of his horse during a joust. Queen Anne walks in on Henry and is shocked by what she sees before her very eyes. The consequences of her shock cause both her and Henry much distress.

Episode 9
Anne has lost a son and with it her last chance at a lasting marriage with Henry. The King's affections are shifting anyway: the Seymour family are awarded rooms at court and seem likely to replace the Boleyns as royal favourites. Several in the court begin to move against Anne who is accused of adultery. Arrests are made of suspected lovers and of Anne herself. All, including the Queen, are sentenced to death.

Episode 10
Queen Anne is imprisoned in the Tower, awaiting her execution. The king granted her wish for a special executioner, but he is delayed and the execution has to be postponed. King Henry proposes to Jane Seymour now that his marriage to Anne has been declared null and void. He hopes she will gave him a legitimate, male heir.

The history of the British monarchy is one filled with many stories but it is the age of the Tudors that is one of the most remembered.

After the critical and commercial success of 'Elizabeth' and its sequel 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age', writer Michael Hirst turned his attention to the Virgin Queen's illustrious father Henry VIII, who is better known for his many wives that his reign. Instead of chronicling this on the silver screen however, Hirst switched his attention to the small screen to tell a much grander tale than anyone thought.

Series one introduced the young king, who loved women just as much as the country he ruled. This was something the Boleyn family saw they could exploit, when Thomas Boleyn introduced the King to daughter Anne. Now with a position of power, the Boleyn's could push forward with their own agenda, to push out the current queen, Catherine of Aragon, replacing her with Anne and giving them the power to make some real changes to England by forcing out the Catholic loyalty to Rome and transforming England into a Anglican Church state, ruled over by the King. With Anne positioned to succeed Catherine and the connection with Rome about to be served, the series ended just as the Boleyn's plan came to pass.

The second season sees the Boleyn's influence rise and fall to a dramatic and, for some, fatal end. What makes the show so successful and complete riveting to watch is the mix of sex, religion, politics and the power of the monarchy. Here we have the king's advisors, the Boleyn's, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas Cromwell taking England away from the control of the Catholic Church in Rome by pushing Protestant Reformation to form the Church of England, with the King as the head of the Church, second only to God. The soon to be Queen, Anne Boleyn faces her own battle to keep the King's eye and produce a male heir to the throne. King Henry VIII himself also has to face his own demons. As well as gaining new allies in the Reformation, he has made enemies of Spain and most importantly the Pope and Catholic faith. He has also lost the confidence of some of his most dearest friends, especially Sir Thomas More, one that will come back to haunt him for the rest of his life.

The draw of these high concept, big budget TV series is pulling in some high quality actors. Now the stigma of working on television for movie and theatre actors has gone, series like this can attract some talented and even legendary actors and actresses. Leading the line is Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII. This is a commanding performance from the extremely talented young Irish actor and it might just be his career-defining role. He draws you into story and, even though you can see him been manipulated by those around him, he still has his own goals. James Frain is also first rate as Henry's new chief advisor Thomas Cromwell, along with Henry Cavill as Henry's best friend Charles Brandon. The legendary actor Peter O'Toole is expertly cast as Pope Paul III and Jeremy Northam continues to be outstanding as Sir Thomas More. The real star of the show however is Natalie Dormer, as the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, the woman who longed to be Queen but, during season two, is losing the eye of her King. This is a fantastic performance from the actress and one that will lead her on to super stardom.

The second season of 'The Tudors' is another superb piece of television. Successfully mixing religion, politics and sex, this is a show that reveals how good television can actually be. You'll be losing your head over it.

PICTURE & SOUND

The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition wide screen 1:85 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound making the serious look sumptuous and sound divine.

BONUS FEATURES

To Capture a King (7.43 mins/High Definition)
University of Southern California Professors Deborah Harkness and Rebecca Lemon, along with Professor Thomas Cogswell from the University of California talk about Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance at King Henry VIII. They talk about the actor playing against type, portraying the young king with authority and passion, much like the real monarch. They also talk about the Tudors' claim to the throne and the legacy that the King left behind.

To Play a Pope (8.49 mins/High Definition)
Peter O'Toole talk about playing Pope Paul III and his contribution to the Catholic Church. The veteran actor talks passionately and informatively, revealing how his character is an amalgamation of Paul III and Pope Clement, who actually dealt the Henry VIII's great matter.

Love and Passion in Tudor times (8.25 mins/High Definition)
University of Southern California Professors Deborah Harkness and Rebecca Lemon talk about the passion inside the court of King Henry VIII. They reveal that the young King brought back celebration into court and what was considered 'sexy' in Tudor times.

BD Live
Log on to 'BD Live' and see the latest previews from Sony.

Trailers
Previews of '21' and 'Vantage Point'

OVERALL

The Blu-Ray treatment for 'The Tudors: Season Two' is one that fans should enjoy. While the lack of commentary tracks is a little disappointing, the historical featurette show you how the show is been approached and the authenticity of the storylines mean these are a good watch for all people interested in the show. With the pristine picture quality and sound, the Blu-Ray is the only way to watch this fantastic series.

BLU-RAY


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