Henry VIII : ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC

I loved it. I want to be in it. It was fantastic.
Helena Bonham Carter was a fantastic Anne Boleyn, although I always imagined Anne as quite tall (sorry Helena!). She was feisty, she challenged the King, she was sexy.

And she learnt the tricks of oral sex whilst a teenager in France. Brilliant.

I think the casting was spot on. Each wife suited her role perfectly. And Assumpta Serna needs an award for Catherine of Aragon.

Anyone else fancy Ray Winstone as the pre-gout Henry?

The point they made about Anne Boleyn learning sexual elaborations (i.e. oral sex) when she was a girl in France where, I think, un-necessary. I think the script relied too much on the work of Alison Weir, who states these things without due recourse to fact.

A better view of Anne's sexuality comes from an older historian, Marie-Louise Bruce, who stated that Anne had a deep fear of sex and a reverence for chastity because the French Court's promiscuity symbolised a loss of control and to Anne, the most important thing in her psychogolical life was to maintain control over her own destiny. Now THAT'S fascinating stuff.

Even so, I think Helena did a great job - and Anne Boleyn was of "middling stature" - so, height-wise she was just right. I think they could have explored how religious Anne was, since she was very passionate and devout and I've always imagined Anne as very thin and Helena was pregnant at the time.

Still, Emily Blunt's performance as Catherien Howard was absolutely FANTASTIC! So believable and touching.

I fancy Ray in all capacities (although I'm a little concerned about him as Sweeney Todd!). But I loved Henry VIII, I have since bought it on DVD and constantly feel the need to watch it again and again and again. I agree the casting was spot on - Ray really was perfect for the part. As were all the wives and supporting cast.

Will have to put it on when I get home!

i agree about there being too much sex. when henry held a frightened anne boleyn as he went through 'motions' on her i found really disturbing.

yay i'm not alone! I thought Ray made a VERY sexy Henry VIII.

I'm sure i'm being overly podantic and i have only seen the first episode as it has just aired on Australian television but the one thing that i really missed was Anne Boleyn's necklace. To me that was a brilliant symbol of Anne and her family and her pride. I may be borrowing a bit from Phillipa Gregory's novels but her family's wishes seemed to overrule most independent thoughts that she might have had - albeit for a woman in that society that was the rule rather than the exeption.

I definitely agree that this could be made a longer series as the first episode dealt with the first 45 years of his life and the most historically relevant of his wifes. Even though the series is mostly fictional i feel that the known facts in themselves are interesting enough without applying such a fictional treatment. Personally i feel that these attention to details are what keeps fans who are truly interested in this era and these lives, truly challenged and involved in the story.

King Henry's cockney accent was another detterant for me. I know it has been thoroughly debated on other message boards as to its historical significance - but placed into a modern context it made him sound like a thug (my mind drifts back to Black Books episode 'The Fixer' with Danny reading Pride and Prejudice for comedic effect.) I'm not saying that King Henry didn't historically have a cockney accent - but to connect with modern audiences maybe in the adaptation he should have changed it.

I still think that this series so far has been a good watch, sometimes irritating but that's just in my nature. And i am looking forward to seeing the next episode

sparkliness denotes brilliance

Helena Bonham Carter was a fantastic Anne Boleyn, although I always imagined Anne as quite tall (sorry Helena!).


Actually, Anne Boleyn and Helena are about the same height. I think Anne might have been shorter than Helena. Anne was about 5'1" or 5'2".

Catherine Parr was very tall, even by today's standards. She was about 5'10".


Although the movie was entertaining, it is full of inaccuracies. I agree with Gboleyn, the movie resembles Alison Weir's books on the life of Henry VIII. Alison Weir is very popular but she stinks as a Historian. In fact, I would never use the word Historian to describe Alison Weir. Weir is a damned storyteller, who likes to think of herself as a Historian, and frankly, draws her own conclusions. She makes assumptions, which are far fetched, and portrays these assumptions as if they were facts in basis.







What,just for once in your life can't you be serious?