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The Tudors

★ 8.1 88K votes 2007–2010 4 seasons · 38 episodes Ended Showtime
Royalty & aristocracyCourts, crowns and dynasties.This show: 10/10Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 10/10Sexually explicitFrank sexual content.This show: 8/10Elites & privilegeThe rich and powerful, glamorous or rotten.This show: 8/10Political intriguePower struggles inside governments and institutions.This show: 8/10Real historyReal historical events and figures woven into the story.This show: 8/10Love storyA love story as the engine of the show, not a side plot.This show: 7/10SerializedContinuous arcs where every episode builds on the last.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Jonathan Rhys MeyersHenry CavillAnthony BrophyJames FrainSarah BolgerGuy Carleton
Written by
Michael Hirst
Starring
Jonathan Rhys MeyersHenry CavillAnthony BrophyJames FrainSarah BolgerGuy Carleton
Written by
Michael Hirst
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
05001k2k2k

The Tudors Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9E10
S17.67.47.57.57.77.67.67.77.87.68.1
S28.17.77.87.97.88.37.97.98.18.68.7
S37.87.97.87.98.27.57.57.68.0
S47.97.77.77.77.68.37.77.97.87.98.6

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About

"Palace intrigue reimagined as glossy soap opera"

This Showtime drama follows the reign of England's Henry VIII, from his early ambitions through his tangled marriages, political schemes, and religious upheaval. It trades textbook accuracy for soapy court intrigue, lavish costumes, and frank sexuality, moving briskly through betrayals, executions, and shifting alliances. The tone leans melodrama more than austere history lesson, carried by a charismatic, often ruthless lead performance and a rotating cast of wives and courtiers. It's glossy, propulsive, and unapologetically entertaining rather than scholarly, working best if you want palace drama with teeth rather than a documentary.

Watch it for

the charismatic, increasingly ruthless portrayal of Henry VIII anchoring every court intrigue.

Maybe skip if

you want historical accuracy over dramatic license and romantic melodrama.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

Season 12007
7.611K108h 38m
Desperate for an heir, England's King Henry VIII shuns his wife Queen Katherine and casts his eye on the alluring Anne Boleyn, while Cardinal Wolsey's loyalty to the Catholic Church and the Pope strains his relationship to the king.
Season 22008
8.18K108h 55m
Henry quickly embraces Lutheran ideas, breaks with the Church, and marries Anne Boleyn, but Brandon sows seeds of doubt about his new queen's fidelity in the king's mind; a loyalty oath pits Henry against his mentor Thomas More.
Season 32009
7.86K86h 53m
Henry's marriage to Jane Seymour is happy, fruitful and tragically short; the king brutally suppresses a rebellion against his religious reforms; England, Spain and the Pope ally against England, forcing Henry to marry a Protestant.
Season 42010
7.97K108h 53m
Henry's marriage to randy, unfaithful teenager Catherine Howard ends in her swift execution, but he finds domestic tranquility at last with the steady Catherine Parr; a war with France and Brandon's death signal Henry's waning days.

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Jonathan Rhys Meyers King Henry VIII
Henry Cavill Charles Brandon
Anthony Brophy Ambassador Bishop Chapuys, Chapuys
James Frain Thomas Cromwell
Sarah Bolger Mary Tudor
Guy Carleton Chamberlain
Natalie Dormer Anne Boleyn
Max Brown Edward Seymour
Nick Dunning Thomas Boleyn
Rod Hallett Richard Rich, Sir Richard Rich

Crew

Michael Hirst

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