Henry VIII (TV serial)

Henry VIII
DVD cover art
Genre	Historical drama
Written by	Peter Morgan
Directed by	Pete Travis
Starring	Ray Winstone Helena Bonham Carter
Narrated by	Derek Jacobi
Composer	Rob Lane
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	2
Production
Executive producers	Justin Bodle Rebecca Eaton Andy Harries Peter Morgan Bill Shephard
Producer	Francis Hopkinson
Running time	193 minutes
Production companies	Granada Television Powercorp WGBH Boston ABC
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	12 October (2003-10-12) – 19 October 2003 (2003-10-19)
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Henry VIII is a two-part British television serial produced principally by Granada Television for ITV from 12 to 19 October 2003. It chronicles the life of Henry VIII of England from the disintegration of his first marriage to an aging Spanish princess until his death following a stroke in 1547, by which time he had married for the sixth time. Additional production funding was provided by WGBH Boston, Powercorp and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

It stars Ray Winstone in his first role in a costume drama. His co-star is Helena Bonham Carter who played Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn; her character dominates the first episode and her dramatic death brings the first part of the story to its conclusion. David Suchet also makes an appearance as Henry's first chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey. The second episode, which follows the last eleven years of Henry's life, sees Winstone act opposite Emilia Fox, as his docile third wife Jane Seymour, Sean Bean as Robert Aske, leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace, and Emily Blunt (in her first major appearance) as Catherine Howard, the promiscuous teenager who was coerced into becoming Henry's fifth queen.