Tudor Historian Reacts to The Tudors Season 2 Part 1

Hi, I'm Dr Estelle Paranque and in this History Police video I review the TV Show The Tudors Season 2 Part 1 (first five episodes).
Let me know what you think down below and I will reply to you!

[@eleanordavis7875]

Jeremy Northam absolutely NAILED his portrayal of Thomas More. A rare 'Tudors' win (the show is my ultimate guilty pleasure). But I agree the sexualisation of Anne Boleyn (and even more so with Katherine Howard later on) was so unnecessary and quite gross. The writers clearly knew that Anne was intelligent and witty - we see glimpses of that in the show but the fact that they chose instead to emphasise her sexuality rather than her other characteristics makes it even worse, I think.

[@ElleHistory]

Yes totally!! Thanks so much for being here! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@traceyboswell]

Natalie Dormer was phenomenal as Anne Boleyn. Her portrayal was complex and speechlessly moving 👍

[@ElleHistory]

I agree!

[@rogueprince1341]

She's amazing. I saw her in G.O.T first and than I found out she was in this and thats what made me watch this.

[@Sabrinajaine]

9:19 If I was Anne I'd have run for the hills at seeing Henry's violent temper here!

[@ElleHistory]

Gosh yes! This scene scared me!

[@wednesdayschild3627]

Imo both Anne and Henry are narcissists. There is a spectrum. Narcissists never think it can happen to them. He was a much more dangerous narcissist. ​@@ElleHistory

[@nirvairsingh7687]

I loved this one your reactions were really on point i liked the fact that you raised your voice for anne bolyen to be portrayed more as a brave and intelligent women reither then an extremely physica and sexual lady which i truly believe she was because i think she was way more educated then most of the women of her time pls correct me if i got anything wrong. Thanks for the amazing reaction 🙏❤

[@ElleHistory]

Thank you so much for watching and all your support! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@mariapdr3261]

I don’t think Anne ignored it but she knew that at point it was far too late to turn back.

[@wednesdayschild3627]

The money was going to support the poor in the monasteries. That is why Queen Anne fought with Henry viii. Clement was Guilio de Medici. The Medici had more wealth and children than Henry could only imagine. Catherine was trained as queen. She schooled Henry. Henry falls apart after. It was not well thought out. Henry chose unsuitable queens, except for maybe Catherine of A, and Anne of Cleves.

[@NightFeline]

I think the Anne Boleyn from Lucy Worsley's miniseries is the most accurate Anne on screen. I love Natalie Dormer's acting and passion for this role, I also like Genevieve Bujold, but Claire Cooper is the closest to how I imagined Anne to be. Too bad it's not an actual movie/TV-show, but merely a docu-drama.

[@ElleHistory]

Good point. I need to watch it again! Thanks so much for watching! 😊🙏🏻

[@rycoli]

Your review was worth waiting for😊 looking forward to the next one!!

[@ElleHistory]

Oh bless you! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😊

[@helpinyerdasellavon]

Another fascinating review, Dr Parenque. So insightful and thought provoking, your books sound so promising. Merci beaucoup 🙏

[@ElleHistory]

Thanks so much for watching! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@jagerchloe9102]

Agreed ! The tudors is one of my favorite historical shows (such a shame, thagt when the network produced the Borgias, it wasn't the same quality, but they had the same issue, oversexualizing Anne Boleyn/Catherine Howard, and Lucrezia Borgia/Caterina Sforza). I love Natalie Dormer, she's one of my favorite actress, despite how the show characterized some of her behavior, I think the second season does a great job of showing how manipulative, selfish and brutal Henry VIII really was. In the first one, you could still have doubt about his character, not anymore. I also really love the portrayal of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell in this show. When they were gone, no other character had that presence on screen.

[@ElleHistory]

Yes I have to agree with you. So grateful to have you here!

[@Lisa-gy7ud]

I’m loving all of your reviews!

[@ElleHistory]

Thank you so so much! It means a lot!!!

[@Reign-Drop]

I love Sir Thomas More. My university has a church on campus named for him. ❤

[@ElleHistory]

I thought he was well portrayed in this show 😊

[@dineyashworth8578]

so you okay that he burnt a bunch of heretics at the take?

[@Reign-Drop]

@@dineyashworth8578 I meant the show’s portrayal of his convictions. I don’t abide by murder, but he was a brave soul to refuse Henry on pain of death. No one wakes up in the morning and decides to be evil for the sake of it. Though I don’t agree with all of his actions, I can acknowledge that he had his reasons.

[@dineyashworth8578]

I can agree with that but all the people he had burned at the stake for not comporting to his religion is evil so he doesn't deserve to have a campus named for him. I think he got what he deserved! @@Reign-Drop

[@dineyashworth8578]

especially the part where he has heretics burnt. That was in real life him too. @@ElleHistory

[@octavianpopescu4776]

A small correction regarding the crown. The crown used by Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is not the same crown used today. The original crown was dismantled and sold off piece by piece by Oliver Cromwell. The crown that exists today was created after the restoration of the monarchy for King Charles II and I think it has 1 stone from the original. Yes, the design would have looked similar, but it's not the same crown as in the Tudor period.

[@NadaOQ96]

This video could've been 10 hours long and I wouldn't have noticed! It's always such a joy listening to your insightful and thoughtful comments on these scenes & shows and I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE SEASON 2 PART 2 VIDEO! Am I allowed to ask what's next on the list in this series after you're done with The Tudors? 😁 Also, I so so agree with you on the portrayal-of-Anne-as-a-seductress issue 👏🏼 Natalie fought against that and wanted to show the side of her that was Anne the reformer, mother, queen...etc and while this does show in that there are slightly more scenes which portray that side of Anne (I especially love the ones with Elizabeth but more on that in the next video) and less of the explicitly sexual ones in S2 than there were in S1, it's clear that Natalie wasn't able to completely overrule the writers and producers who were clearly hellbent on having their version of Anne take centerstage 😤 As always, thanks for the fantastic video 💛

[@ElleHistory]

Oh gosh you’re so so kind!! Thank you so much for your kind words! I have some surprises for you. I’m reviewing Six The Musical soon, but will also be rating the best English kings and English queens in movies and TV shows, as well as reviewing Versailles the tv show, Vikings, the Last Kingdom and others. Plenty of History Police coming for you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@julirowen3988]

Fascinating review! I also loved the conversation with Anne and Francis (and the actor who portrayed him).

[@ElleHistory]

Thank you! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😊

[@stephaniehoyland4901]

This is actually my favourite TV show I've got all the series on DVD and I love them

[@ElleHistory]

Can’t lie: it is epic! (Despite all the historical inaccuracies)

[@Sabrinajaine]

With the portrayal of Anne as being quite seductive, I think they're just trying to portray how she was such an attractive and charismatic woman and had no problem getting attention from men - although I agree she definitely shouldn't be portrayed as a sexual object and should also be portraying her intelligence and free spirit, and any suggestion of her possibly being guilty of adultery is completely unacceptable

[@ElleHistory]

Totally! Thanks so much for watching!!

[@LyaniX]

love your opinion on Anne´s personality. I totally agree that she is portrayed way more sexual than she probably was. I would love to see her on the screen portrayed as the witty, intelligent woman as she was told to be. I love Natalie Dormer and how she brought Anne to the screen, even though the beautiful black eyes were missing. I would like to think though that Anne could use her black eyes for her advantage. Thank you for the lovely video!!!!

[@ElleHistory]

I agree but Natalie really did such a good job didn’t she.. Thank you so much for your kind comments. Don’t forget to check my videos on Anne herself.. I have quite a few :)

[@LyaniX]

@@ElleHistory it is guaranteed that I will ^^

[@michellecrocker2485]

Worse stepmom of the year goes to….Anne Boleyn. Forget that Mary had her reasons not to like her, Annie’s quid pro quo deal does seem insincere. Like she wasn’t really interested in making peace with Mary, more like satisfying her own feelings. It was like she wasn’t even trying to make a truce with Mary cuz she obviously made little effort to understand what her issues with Anne were

[@wednesdayschild3627]

The double narcissist relationships are scary. I think all powerful people are a bit narcissistic. Some are worse than others.

[@Elisabeth0801]

I wish you would upload whole episodes. Edited of course and with comment parts so that it doesn't get blocked.

[@ElleHistory]

That would be so awesome but copyright claims mean I cant! Truly wish I could though… 😞

[@renferal5290]

I really like Thomas More. I thought his death was portrayed with such dignity and grace. Really sad that so much evil was done in the name of religion and that Anne died simply because she didn't give Henry a boy. He is also lucky that Catherine didn't destroy him like she could have done.

[@ElleHistory]

I totally agree with you! Thanks so much for watching!!!

[@nicolasalvarez1001]

Thanks for this video, greetings from Uruguay 🇺🇾 curious fact: some dresses and jewelry in this series were reused in other films and historical series

[@ElleHistory]

thanks for being here!

[@alisonridout]

I love The Tudors series even though it's historically incorrect in places. I've researched the whole series quite a few times but that may have been the fact that Henry Cavill is starring as Charles Brandon 😊

[@ElleHistory]

Haha yes that’s a bonus!

[@alisonridout]

@@ElleHistory definitely

[@rosemarykelty8142]

Thanks for this really interesting review, Dr. Paranque! I agree that this show had a lot of issues with the historical timeline. I also find Thomas Wyatt quite annoying in this show. He acted like he owned or had a right to Anne. I find it fascinating to think about what Anne and Francis would have discussed. Thanks so much!

[@ElleHistory]

Yes lots of inaccuracies but also so many interesting scenes too! 😊😊😊🙏🏻

[@ChristopherMarshburn]

After Wolf Hall hard to see the Tudors as anything but a historical soap opera. To think Thomas More, notwithstanding his office, would have deigned to speak to Henry like that is laughable.

[@ElleHistory]

You have a point! I should review Wolf Hall too!

[@ChristopherMarshburn]

@@ElleHistory I would love that. No doubt you’ve read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy so I’d be interested to see if you think the series was faithful to the book.

[@msher33]

What are the books that show the layers of complexity?

[@ElleHistory]

You have a few by Tracy Borman, or Natalie Grueninger’s The Final Year of Anne Boleyn or Suzannah Lipscomb’s 1536 is also brilliant!

[@msher33]

@@ElleHistory thanks!

[@Rickky007]

Ellen we can make our own history 😢 great reaction me lady.

[@dineyashworth8578]

For some reason some people's videos like yours are too low for me to hear but I'm using speakers now so unlike earlier don't have to use the subtitles. Can hear good with speakers.

[@ElleHistory]

Oh no I’m so sorry about that!! Thanks for still watching though. Very grateful!

[@dineyashworth8578]

np don't know why some lower volume and my computer always on highest too. @@ElleHistory

[@ninalily]

I thought she just liked to flirt. I think the show was just trying to portray that. Haha

[@katyrye]

I have to disagree. Sexuality would be wit. But NOT with men other than the king

[@christinestevenson4304]

I can't stand the character of thomas more! It seems to me if you are truly a christian, then you would find burning people alive because they believe something different would be just wrong! It's a shame humans are still like that today somewhat. Having hate for different beliefs is just sad! And to me the real thomas more was a tyrant not a saint! The tudors actor had such a way that you only see him as mostly a saint because he is a great actor! But thomas more was no saint!