Scripted series · Showtime
The Tudors
It's Good to Be King.
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Henry VIII of England
38 eps
Perdita Weeks
Mary Boleyn
3 eps
Sam Neill
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
10 eps
Callum Blue
Anthony Knivert
10 eps
Henry Cavill
Charles Brandon
38 eps
James Frain
Thomas Cromwell
18 eps
Henry Czerny
Duke of Norfolk
10 eps
Natalie Dormer
Anne Boleyn
20 eps
Maria Doyle Kennedy
Catherine of Aragon
30 eps
Nick Dunning
Thomas Boleyn
20 eps
Jeremy Northam
Sir Thomas More
20 eps
Max Brown
Edward Seymour
18 eps
Annabelle Wallis
Jane Seymour
28 eps
Joss Stone
Anne of Cleves
18 eps
Steven Waddington
Duke of Buckingham
20 eps
Hans Matheson
Thomas Cranmer
10 eps
Peter O'Toole
Pope Paul III
10 eps
David O'Hara
Henry Howard
20 eps
Lothaire Bluteau
Ambassador Charles de Marillac
10 eps
Joely Richardson
Catherine Parr
20 eps
Tamzin Merchant
Catherine Howard
18 eps
Max von Sydow
Cardinal Von Waldburg
8 eps
Charlotte Salt
Lady Ursula Misseldon
18 eps
Alan van Sprang
Sir Francis Bryan
8 eps
Emma Hamilton
Anne Stanhope
11 eps
Selma Brook
Brigitte Rousselot
4 eps
Claire MacCauley
Princess Elizabeth Tudor
8 eps
Catherine Steadman
Joan Bulmer
5 eps
Sarah Bolger
Princess Mary Tudor
28 eps
Kristen Holden-Ried
William Compton
17 eps
Pádraic Delaney
George Boleyn
15 eps
Joe Van Moyland
Thomas Tallis
9 eps
Torrance Coombs
Thomas Culpepper
10 eps
Anita Briem
Jane Seymour
10 eps
Andrew McNair
Sir Thomas Seymour
27 eps
Anthony Brophy
Ambassador Eustace Chapuys
31 eps
Jake Hathaway
Prince Edward Tudor
11 eps
Laoise Murray
Princess Elizabeth Tudor
17 eps
Simon Ward
Bishop Stephen Gardiner
30 eps
Eoin Murtagh
Prince Edward Tudor
16 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How The Tudors actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
The Tudors reads strongest on Character Depth, Emotional Weight and Bingeability.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
The Tudors is a history-based drama series following the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the English court and the human heart with equal vigor and justifiable suspicion.
The run
Seasons
4 seasons · 38 episodes.
Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
200710 episodes
7.5IMDbDesperate 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.
Best episode · S01E06 True Love
Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
200810 episodes
7.2IMDbHenry 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.
Best episode · S02E10 Destiny and Fortune
Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
20098 episodes
7.3IMDbHenry'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.
Best episode · S03E02 The Northern Uprising
Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
201010 episodes
7.8IMDbHenry'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.
Best episode · S04E10 Death of a Monarchy
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
S02E10
Destiny and Fortune
Queen Anne is imprisoned in the Tower, awaiting her execution. The king granted her wish for a special executioner, but he is delayed and the execution has to be postponed. King Henry proposes to Jane Seymour now that his marriage to Anne has been declared null and void. He hopes she will gave him a legitimate, male heir.
- Directed by Jon Amiel
S04E07
Sixth And The Final Wife
Henry marries Catherine Parr - his sixth and final wife. A loving step-mother and compassionate companion, Catherine is liked and respected by all at court save the Catholic Bishop Gardiner who suspects her to be a heretic. Henry prepares to invade France.
- Directed by Jeremy Podeswa
S04E10
Death of a Monarchy
Finale - Henry’s thoughts turn to his own mortality with the news that his long-time friend and sometimes foe King Francis, and his unshakable soldier Charles Brandon, are each dying. As he faces death, Henry encounters the ghosts of his former wives who each get a chance to confront him. Hans Holbein paints a last, iconic portrait of the Tudor King.
- Directed by Ciarán Donnelly
S04E06
You Have My Permission
Unmarried once more Henry reflects on his dynasty and orders a new Act of Parliament which restores the succession rights of his two daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Mary. His roving eye undaunted by age or experience, he notices the attractive soon-to-be widow Catherine Parr. After the disastrous mismatch of his last marriage a mature woman is just what he needs.
- Directed by Ciarán Donnelly
S02E04
The Act of Succession
Sir Thomas More refuses to accept Henry's command that his people swear an oath of "allegiance and recognition of the King's supremacy" to both church and state. Anne is made aware of the King's womanizing ways, and arranges then gives her blessing to his next mistress. Also, Anne has a confrontation with Lady Mary, Henry's daughter.
- Directed by Colm McCarthy
S03E02
The Northern Uprising
The uproar over the king's break with the Catholic Church turns into a full-blown rebellion that comes to be known as "The Pilgrimage of Grace." Immobilized by an old jousting injury, Henry sends Charles Brandon to deal with the uprising and focuses his attention on the Lady Ursula Misseldon.
- Directed by Ciarán Donnelly
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
Michael Hirst
Showrunner
Tim Bevan
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Teri Weinberg
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Sheila Hockin
Executive producer
Steve Shill
Executive producer
Eric Fellner
Executive producer
Charles McDougall
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Morgan O'Sullivan
Executive producer
James Flynn
Executive producer
Ben Silverman
Executive producer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Tim BevanExecutive Producer
- Teri WeinbergExecutive Producer
- Sheila HockinExecutive Producer
- Bob MunroeProducer
- Michael HirstExecutive Producer
- Steve ShillExecutive Producer
Writing
- Michael HirstWriter
Direction
- Colm McCarthyDirector
- Brian KirkDirector
- Alison MacleanDirector
- Jeremy PodeswaDirector
- Dearbhla WalshDirector
- Steve ShillDirector
Cinematography
- Ousama RawiDirector of Photography
Music
- Trevor MorrisOriginal Music Composer
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon Prime VideoStreaming
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- fuboTVStreaming
- Paramount Plus PremiumStreaming
- Google Play MoviesBuy
- Paramount+ Amazon ChannelStreaming
- Fandango At HomeBuy
- YouTube TVStreaming
- Paramount+ Roku Premium ChannelStreaming
- Amazon Prime Video with AdsStreaming
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Where to go from here
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Watch this next if you like protagonists you can't quite defend.
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Where our editors would send you after the credits roll.
Never stop watching
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