BBC period drama The Tudors is 'gratuitously awful' says Dr David Starkey
Dr David Starkey, a specialist in the Tudor period, described the BBC Two series as "gratuitously awful", saying it was riddled with errors and inaccuracies.
Characters wear costumes from the Elizabethan era and travel in Victorian carriages, suggesting that the modes of transport in the series were bought "lock, stock and barrel" from a "Jane Austen leftover".
Made by Showtime, a US cable network, at a cost of £17 million for the first series alone, the drama stars Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII.
Dr Starkey said it was a disgrace that the BBC had "squandered" public money on a historical drama which he claimed had been deliberately "dumbed down" to appeal to an American audience.
"It is gratuitously awful," he told The Daily Telegraph. "There are errors in Shakespeare when he handles history but they are there for a purpose. The mistakes in The Tudors are completely gratuitous."
He said he was shocked that the programme makers twisted history to show Henry VIII's sister, Margaret, being sent away to marry the King of Portugal instead of the King of Scotland...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Characters wear costumes from the Elizabethan era and travel in Victorian carriages, suggesting that the modes of transport in the series were bought "lock, stock and barrel" from a "Jane Austen leftover".
Made by Showtime, a US cable network, at a cost of £17 million for the first series alone, the drama stars Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII.
Dr Starkey said it was a disgrace that the BBC had "squandered" public money on a historical drama which he claimed had been deliberately "dumbed down" to appeal to an American audience.
"It is gratuitously awful," he told The Daily Telegraph. "There are errors in Shakespeare when he handles history but they are there for a purpose. The mistakes in The Tudors are completely gratuitous."
He said he was shocked that the programme makers twisted history to show Henry VIII's sister, Margaret, being sent away to marry the King of Portugal instead of the King of Scotland...