The Tudors 1x01.

After seeing Jonathan Rhys Meyer's in Bend It Like Beckham, I don't think I would ever have pictured him playing Henry VIII. However, being obsessed with the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, I now realise that his portrayal as the infamous English monarch is one of my favourites. He's young, handsome, sexy (with a little hint of crazy) and talented enough to be able to pull off such a notorious role.

It took me a while to get used to The Tudors. I had just finished watching The Other Boleyn Girl, so I was in belief that it would follow the same sort of pattern and get right into the nitty-gritty of the story. For a show on the same channel as the likes of Dexter, I knew it was going to push the envelope when it came to what actually was on screen. The nudity did not phase me; it was the immediate assassination of Henry's Uncle in Rome within the first five minutes that made me realise that this show was going to surprise me constantly.

I applaud Michael Hirst and the casting director for their choice of actors and talent for the series; Sam Neil as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Nick Dunning as Thomas Boleyn and Henry Czerny as Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, as well as Jeremy Northam as Thomas More are all characters who immediately showed their strengths as veteren actors. However, being the girl that I am, I instantly fell in love with Henry Cavill as Charles Brandon, Henry VIII's best friend, as well as the casting of Callum Blue as Anthony Knivert. Maybe it is because I had first seen Callum as the undead reaper Mason in Dead Like Me, but I could not take him all that seriously in the time era of The Tudors. I still love him in it though.

Not much happens within the first episode; it basically introduces us to the key players of the first season. We don't actually meet Anne Boleyn (played by the amazingly gorgeous Natalie Dormer - who, incidentallly, is the descendant of Jane Dormer, Queen Mary I's Lady-In-Waiting) until the last few seconds of the episode, and even then she does not any more than five words. However, those few seconds of screentime was all that I needed to know that Natalie's portrayal was going to be one that would possibly even outshine Genevieve Bujold's portrayal of Anne Boleyn in Anne Of The Thousand Days.

I'll most likely keep reviewing The Tudors for my own amusement, because I can never seem to find any episode reviews of the series.

Morgan.