New TV - The Tudors

There's a lot of buzz about The Tudors on this side of the Atlantic. Season one has already aired in the US on Showtime, and it generated admirable audience numbers. It's billed as a sexier telling of the life of Henry VIII than the one we learned in school. Jonathon Rhys Myers plays the randy monarch, which takes a bit of getting used to, as he looks nothing like the chubby bearded red head I remember from the history books. The show is filmed on location in Ireland so you will hear a few Irish accents, but one you won't hear is from Irish singer Marie Doyle Kennedy, who puts in a very subdued but credible performance as Catherine of Aragon.

I've seen rough cuts of the first two episodes and two things struck me as I was watching. The first is that if there is an attractive woman on the screen, she has either had sex or is about to have sex with somebody, usually Harry himself. That will be her sole purpose. The second thing is that Rhys Myers is a very poor actor. I've never been impressed by him, I'm one of the few people who hated Woody Allen's Match Point, largely because of his insipid performance. Putting him on screen with a veteran like Sam Neill only highlights how much of an effort acting is for JRM. God help him when Peter O'Toole joins the cast for season 2!

J liked what we saw so far but I'm not convinced. Apart from the lusty wenches and poor leading man, my issue is that the story is a familiar one. We know all about the significance of his divorce, his pursuit of Anne Boleyn and his fondness for decapitation. We can marvel at the sets and costumes, be titillated by the saucy minx who becomes his second wife, but it's not enough to keep me engaged when there are no surprises in store. Unless you didn't pay attention in class, in which case it's the Sopranos of the 16th century.

http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do