The Tudors: The Complete First Season

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who made strong impressions in Mission: Impossible III and Match Point, dominates the small screen as a young King Henry VIII in this opulent, engrossing, Emmy-winning Showtime-aired series. Covering the tumultuous early period of the monarch's 38-year 16th-century reign, The Tudors opens as Henry—depicted here as an impassioned, impetuous, and somewhat rebellious 19-year-old—prepares for war with France but is dissuaded by his shrewd Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Sam Neill), who suggests negotiating a truce instead. Historical events are dramatized skillfully, but the writers (naturally) make a great deal more of Henry's personal life, particularly his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and his infamous, ill-fated affair with Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer). This four-disc boxed set includes all 10 episodes from the 2007 season, as well as DVD extras such as a trio of featurettes (on the production, costumes, and locations) and sample episodes of the Showtime-aired series' Californication, This American Life, and Penn & Teller's Bullshit! Lovers of historical drama will enjoy the various intrigues, while those of a more romantic bent will thrill to Henry's cable-level-saucy boudoir conquests. Recommended. (E. Hulse)