Above: British actress Natalie Dormer as a ghostly Anne Boleyn with first-time Irish actress Laoise Murray as her daughter, Elizabeth, in the final episode of the Showtime series, "The Tudors"
If I had ever dramatised the death of Henry VIII, I have to say I'd have done something similar. Hats off to Michael Hirst, the writer of the Showtime series "The Tudors," which concludes in two weeks, for having the spectral figures of Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy), Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) and Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis) returning to preside over the King's death. I hope Catherine Howard (well played by Tamzin Merchant) also makes a return.
It sounds like a haunting and brilliant ending and given the brilliance of Maria and Natalie's performance as Henry's first two wives, I'm very excited to see it.
Anne of Cleves (Joss Stone) and Katharine Parr (the lovely Joely Richardson) are, of course, still alive at the time of Henry's death.
I haven't seen any of The Tudors but would really like to. there was an excellent BBC series called The 6 Wives of Henry VIII but it is from decades ago and this one looks very good indeed!
ReplyDeleteI've only seen clips of this series, but I agree Natalie Dormer was fantastic. I also thought Sarah Bolger was great as the young Mary Tudor.
ReplyDeleteI agree, both Maria Doyle Kennedy and Natalie Dormer were amazing. I was just telling someone how I'm looking forward to seeing them again! The show hasn't been the best in the way of accuracy, but I'm interested to see what they say.
ReplyDeleteI loved Maria Doyle Kennedy and Natalie Dormer too - they really brought those queens to life for me. I agree with Matterhorn about Sarah Bolger - I've managed to see some of Season 4 and she really is brilliant as Mary. I had new sympathy for Mary after reading Linda Porter's excellent biography but The Tudors has also done a fantastic job at making the viewer understand how and why Mary turned out like she did and Sarah Bolger is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the ghostly returns of Catherine, Anne and Jane (and hopefully Catherine H).