The Tudors

This article is about the television series. For the royal house, see House of Tudor.

The Tudors
GenreHistorical drama
Created byMichael Hirst
Written byMichael Hirst
Starring
ComposerTrevor Morris
Country of origin
  • United Kingdom
  • Canada
  • United States
  • Ireland
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes38 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • James Flynn
  • Gary Howsam
Production locationIreland
Running time47–56 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release1 April 2007 (2007-04-01) –
20 June 2010 (2010-06-20)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Tudors is a British-Canadian historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among American, British, and Canadian producers, and was filmed mostly in Ireland. While named after the Tudor dynasty as a whole, it is based specifically upon the reign of King Henry VIII.[1][2]

The series was produced by Peace Arch Entertainment for Showtime in association with Reveille Eire, Working Title Television, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and was filmed in Ireland. The first two episodes debuted on DirecTV, Time Warner Cable OnDemand, Netflix, Verizon FiOS On Demand, Internet Movie Database and on the website of the series before the official premiere on Showtime. The Tudors premiered on 1 April 2007; it was the highest-rated Showtime series in three years.[3] In April 2007, the show was renewed for a second season,[3] and in that month the BBC announced it had acquired exclusive broadcast rights for the series in the United Kingdom, which it started to broadcast on 5 October 2007. The CBC began broadcasting the show on 2 October 2007.[4]

Season Two debuted on Showtime on 30 March 2008, and on BBC 2 on 1 August 2008. Production on Season Three began on 16 June 2008 in Bray, County Wicklow Ireland,[5][6] and that season premiered on Showtime on 5 April 2009, and debuted in Canada on CBC on 30 September 2009. The day after broadcast, downloadable episodes debuted in Canada on MoboVivo.[7]

Showtime announced on 13 April 2009 that it had renewed the show for a fourth and final season. The network ordered ten episodes that were first broadcast on 11 April 2010.[8][9] The series finale was broadcast on 20 June 2010. The final season was shown in Canada on CBC between 22 September and 23 November 2010.

International distribution rights are owned by Sony Pictures Television.

  1. ^ Bellafante, Ginia (28 March 2008). "Nasty, but Not So Brutish and Short". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  2. ^ Gates, Anita (23 March 2008). "The Royal Life (Some Facts Altered)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Showtime's Tudors continues reign." Variety. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  4. ^ "A slightly neutered Tudors." The Toronto Star. 28 September 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  5. ^ "Peace Arch(R) Entertainment Announces Renewal of Hit Series The Tudors." Money.CNN.com Archived 2 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine 24 April 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  6. ^ "Showtime Orders Season Three of The Tudors." The New York Times. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  7. ^ United States (5 May 2009). "MoboVivo Licenses Hollywood Hit Show, The Tudors". Techvibes.com. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Showtime renews – and ends – The Tudors". The Live Feed. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  9. ^ "Showtime Picks Up Fourth And Final Season Of The Tudors". BroadcastingCable.com. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2009.