The Tudors

 (Series; Showtime, Sun. March 30, 9 p.m.)

By BRIAN LOWRY

Filmed in Ireland by Reveille and Working Title and presented in association with Peace Arch Entertainment. Executive producers, Michael Hirst, Benjamin Silverman, Teri Weinberg, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan; producers, Gary Howsam, James Flynn; director, Jeremy Podeswa; writer, Hirst.
 
King Henry VIII - Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Pope Paul III - Peter O'Toole
Sir Thomas More - Jeremy Northam
Brandon - Henry Cavill
Queen Anne Boleyn - Natalie Dormer
Katherine of Aragon - Maria Doyle Kennedy
Sir Thomas Boleyn - Nick Dunning
Thomas Cromwell - James Frain
 

Frothy and modest fun, "The Tudors" picks right up where the first season left off, with doe-eyed Anne Boleyn -- guided by her utterly ruthless father -- leading King Henry VIII around by his, er, royal scepter. Mixing equal parts court intrigue with Calvin Klein ad, the series falls short of greatness, proving most valuable for the expanded window it offers into an always-fascinating period. On those terms, this Showtime drama delivers just enough bodice-ripping amusement, but "A Man for All Seasons" or "Anne of the Thousand Days" it's surely not.

This season's first four episodes hinge on Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) frontally challenging the Catholic Church for its refusal to grant a divorce from the queen (Maria Doyle Kennedy) -- who failed to bear him a male heir -- so that he might marry his mistress Anne (Natalie Dormer). By defying the church, the king not only estranges himself from advisor Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) but antagonizes the pope (guest star Peter O'Toole), who wonders from afar why this silly Anne person can't simply be made to disappear.

"The kings of Europe have power but no morality," the pope muses in a later hour. "I must act as their conscience."

At least initially, O'Toole has what amounts to a cameo, though his arch presence provides some compensation for the absence of Sam Neill, who played a prominent role in season one. The weak link here, casting-wise, remains Dormer, whose Anne must go through a demanding range of emotions that frankly appear beyond her -- cunningly plotting with her cold-blooded father as well as the King of France, petulantly chafing at being dismissed by society and schoolgirlishly exulting over becoming queen.

Theoretically, the current arc's central drama will stem from More's principled stand against the king, but thus far the scheming by various parties is blunted by a cursory knowledge of history and writer Michael Hirst's paper-thin characterizations for most of the principals. The fabulous frocks and opulent settings, in fact, do a good job of distracting from the reality that "The Tudors" is just an old-fashioned soap with slightly less sex this time, inasmuch as Anne has (if only temporarily) conquered the king.

Those limitations also apply to Rhys Meyers' Henry, who still comes across mostly as a boyish slave to his appetites -- wholly unaware that Anne is manipulating them to the point, eventually, of choosing an appropriate mistress for him.

If nothing else, it's a timely reminder how little has changed regarding the excesses of politics and politicians in the intervening centuries.

Camera, Ousama Rawi; production designer, Tom Conroy; editors, Wendy Hallam Martin, Lisa Grootenboer; music, Trevor Morris; casting, Frank Moiselle, Nuala Moiselle. 60 MIN.