"The Tudors" is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series, named after the Tudor dynasty, is loosely based upon the reign of King Henry VIII of England.
The premiere of "The Tudors" on 1 April 2007 was the highest rated Showtime series debut in three years, and on 23 March 2008 The New York Times called The Tudors a "steamy period drama ... which critics could take or leave but many viewers are eating up." A 28 March 2008 review also by the New York Times said that the series "fails to live up to the great long-form dramas cable television has produced" largely because "it radically reduces the era's thematic conflicts to simplistic struggles over personal and erotic power." Overall, the show has had generally good reviews with 64% favourable reviews for the first season, 68% for the second season and 72% for the third season according to the ratings site Metacritic.
This is an article that was published in Feb 2009 issue of Arena magazine. It was typed out for easier reading by Abby, administrator of Jump in! intensevibe.org forum, and was posted in a thread at this forum. Thank you so much, Abby!
