The Tudors: The Complete Second Season

Investing an already colorful British historical period with the intrigue of a primetime soap opera made the Showtime-aired The Tudors a hot ticket during its 2007 premiere. Season two begins with King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, playing the historically documented rotund monarch as svelte and sexy) seeking an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) at the insistence of his lover, the ambitious Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer). Over the course of the 10 episodes from 2008 compiled here, Henry systematically destroys all ties to authority and tradition, marrying Anne in secret, after which he is excommunicated by Pope Paul III (Peter O'Toole). Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) recedes into the background after defying Henry halfway through the season and winds up a prisoner in the Tower of London, and Anne herself eventually loses favor with the king after failing to bear him a male heir (the seventh episode introduces Jane Seymour, played by Anita Briem, as a new paramour for the lusty monarch). In its sophomore year The Tudors maintains its high standard of writing, direction, acting, and staging. DVD extras include featurettes on the Tower of London and Henry's descendants, as well as second season premiere episodes of Californication and This American Life. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)