BBC Two has announced its purchase of the second series of The Tudors which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII and looks at Henry’s early life.
The first series is currently airing on Friday nights and has attracted average audiences of 3.2m – more than a million up on the channel’s average. The second series will air in 2008.
Among story lines to look forward to is the dramatisation of the cataclysmic events which made up the English Reformation: the destruction of the Catholic Church and revolution in England in the name of freedom, progress and prosperity.
Having broken from Rome, Henry faces the wrath of the new Pope, Paul III, played by screen legend Peter O’Toole, and goes on to marry Anne Boleyn who delivers a child, but not a longed-for son and heir.
The second series, which was shot in Ireland this summer, follows the dramatic and often heart-breaking twists and turns in the story of the royal marriage and introduces a new and destabilising element � Jane Seymour � to the Queen’s chamber.
George McGhee, BBC Controller of Programme Acquisitions, said the corporation was “extremely pleased with our viewers’ positive reactions to The Tudors and have subsequently acquired series two for transmission in 2008.
Related Link: Jonathan Rhys Meyers Stars as ‘Sexy’ Henry VIII