The series “The Tudors” is back on Showtime this Sunday at 9
p.m. The beautiful and glamorous characters from 16th century’s England
will return to entertain viewers with their political intrigues, love affairs
and sexy scenes.
Critics accused the sexy series of being more like a
soap-opera than a historical documentary, but Michael Hirst claims that he
wanted to portray an interesting past, free from the dull characters from
history books.
"It may be dry in a history book, but if you think
about it, it involves people's beliefs and passions and their whole way of life
being destroyed and challenged," he said, according to the Washington
Post.
Hirst also said that Showtime was courageous in choosing to broadcast
a historical series when the public is mostly concerned in contemporary stuff.
However, they had to make sure the film was going to be enjoyed by all types of
audience, from people interested in history to young kids. That is why they
made the costumes glamorous and the characters’ issues contemporary.
“You’re not going to get young kids watching a program with
men and tights, but you are going watch a program with Jonathan Rhys Meyers
being wild, sexy, powerful and all the things in real life King Henry VIII
actually was,” Hirst explained, according to the Boston Herald.
The series depicts the reign of King Henry VIII of England, his relationship with each of his many
wives and his conquest of supremacy over the Roman Catholic Church in England.
The beginning of second season focuses on the Henry’s relation
with Anne Boleyn(Natalie Dormer), who gives birth to a daughter, the future
Queen Elizabeth I.
However, the king was not pleased enough by the female heir
and, as he starts falling in love with Jane Seymour, he decides to execute Anne
Boleyn, declaring his marriage with her as a product of witchcraft.
King Henry may seem a terrible, despicable tyrant, but
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays the character in the series, defends him,
pointing to his vulnerability and good traits. Hirst also said one of the
series’ aims is to show Henry as a human being, with flaws that any ordinary
man could have, and not as a cold-blooded tyrant.
The first season of “The Tudors” was watched by about 1.3
million viewers, of whom 46 percent were male and 54 percent female.
