Amazon Prime fans have days to binge BBC historical drama hailed a ‘masterpiece
Premiering in 2007, The Tudors starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the monarch, with the first season following the period in his reign in which his ability to rule was put under strain by international conflicts and political power struggles playing out in his own court.
His wife Catherine of Aragon was played by Maria Doyle Kennedy while Natalie Dormer took on the role of his mistress Anne Boleyn.
Upon hitting screens, the show became the highest-rating Showtime series debut in three years. It originally aired in the UK on BBC.
Although reviews were mixed from both critics and fans, the praised the series received from some was glowing.
'The scandalous history behind King Henry VIII of England and his six wives comes to life in the racy series…' Time wrote in its review.
'This is a solid and historically grounded drama that is dependably entertaining with performances often more riveting than the stories from which they arise,' The Hollywood reporter declared.
Meanwhile The New York Times went a step further: 'Showtime's glorious, gorgeous The Tudors is the best series since The Sopranos. Period.'
Another season followed in 2008, with a third in 2009 and the fourth and final airing in 2010.
Although all four seasons were made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video earlier this year, they are about to be removed. On the streaming platform it says that it is set to leave 'within the next 30 days'.
However for those wanting to have more time to catch up, or watch the series again, it's also available to watch on Channel 4's streaming service too.
The Tudors was created by screenwriter and producer Michael Hirst, best known for his films Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).
He then went on to create the series Vikings, which ran from 2013 until 2020.
In 2018 Jonathan spoke about the legacy of The Tudors, and how it had paved the way for other series'.
'When we made The Tudors, we were able to make a period TV show successful, for the first time. There would be no Game of Thrones, there would be no Vikings and there would be no Crown, unless we had done The Tudors first,' he told Collider. More Trending
'It was the first time that the industry saw that we could put people with swords and horses and castles and gowns, and it would be successful.
'It was funny, we were on the third season of The Tudors when they greenlit Game of Thrones. The only reason that it was greenlit was because we did The Tudors first, and we're very proud of that.'
The Tudors is currently streaming on Channel 4 and Amazon Prime Video.
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A version of this article was originally published on January 22, 2025.
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