Henry VIII - Production Notes

Last Update: 30 October 2004 (You need a browser capable of viewing tables to see this page properly)

 

Source: Masterpiece Theatre (PBS)

 

 

Story Synopsis

 

Henry VIII ascended to the throne as a lithe, handsome seventeen-year-old

and died after an extraordinary thirty-eight year reign, an embittered, obese

invalid.

 

The rest of Europe looked on in amazement as Henry, desperate for a male

heir, cast aside the older, but loyal, Katharine of Aragon for a series of

marriages with wives who are probably better known for the way their

lives ended than they lived -- the determined temptress Anne Boleyn,

the pious yet tragic Jane Seymour, the outcast Anne of Cleves, the

adulterous Katherine Howard and finally the devoted Katherine Parr.

 

This tale of Henry VIII depicts the sexual intrigue, betrayal and rivalry that

existed within his court, in a reign notable for its political and religious

upheaval, violence and corruption.

 

 

Episode One
It's 1509, Richmond Palace: the deathbed of Henry VII. The King summons his

second son, seventeen-year-old Henry and gives his final words of wisdom to

the future King. 'You will take your brother Arthur's widow Katherine for your

wife. Most importantly, have a son. A male heir. That is the most important

thing you will ever do as a King.'

 

Two decades later, a woman gives birth to a baby boy. It transpires that

the baby is Henry VIII's, following a brief affair. Ever mindful of his father's

last words, Henry demands that Cardinal Wolsey legitimizes baby Henry

Fitzroy and gives him the succession. Wolsey warns the King that such an act

would be 'political suicide.' With his daughter Mary, by Spanish wife Katherine

of Aragon and the all-important alliance with Spain, Henry is finally convinced

that his only option is to keep trying for a son with his wife and forget the

existence of his infant namesake.

 

Meanwhile, the Duke of Buckingham -- a Plantaganet and claimant to the

throne -- is leading a revolt against the King. He vows that since Henry's

only heir is illegitimate, he himself will 'take down Henry Tudor and reclaim

the throne.' A crowd of powerful nobles gathers excitedly around him,

one of whom is a spy. The spy reports back to Wolsey.

 

Relations become increasingly strained between Henry and his subjects, as

well as with his wife. Following a number of miscarriages, Henry is desperate

to have a legitimate son yet finds the sight of Katherine ever more

unbearable as she continues to fail him.

 

When Buckingham attempts to meet with his cohorts to declare war on the

King, he is met with deathly silence in the woods. A horse eventually arrives

bearing one of his lieutenants. His throat is slit. As more and more of his

army emerge dying and drenched in blood, Henry reveals himself. This

war is over before it has even begun.

 

Katherine is devastated by news of her husband's barbaric treatment of

Buckingham's troops, not to mention the horrific torture the Duke was

subjected to. Is this the man she married? 'If you gave me a son, these

people would not rise against me,' he retorts.

 

The King and Queen later enter a vast ceremonial hall to preside over the

aristocratic engagements of England. Among the couples are Henry Percy

and Anne Boleyn, recently returned from the French court. From the moment

Henry sets eyes on the strikingly beautiful, quick-witted Anne, he is transfixed.

He will not allow her marriage to go ahead and instructs Wolsey to forbid the

union. Anne is incensed. Wolsey has made an enemy of her for life.

 

Unable to keep Anne from his thoughts, Henry summons her to court as a

lady-in-waiting to Katherine. It also transpires that Anne's sister Mary is

pregnant, maybe with Henry's child, following a passionate affair with him.

Despite Henry's desperate attempts to woo her, Anne is determined not

to suffer the same fate as her sister. Anne is given her own rooms at

court and rumors start to circulate about the king's fascination with this

fiery and arrogant new beauty. Thomas Cromwell and Archbishop of

Canterbury Thomas Cramner are concerned -- Henry has never been so

infatuated with a woman ...and a Protestant at that. Anne is steadfast.

'I want Percy back,' she spits angrily at the King. 'He is engaged to

another by arrangement of his family,' he sneers. Anne is resigned to

her fate. Yet she will sleep with the King on her own terms. 'Never

give a man something without securing your own interests first,' she

tells her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk.

 

As Anne keeps the King at arm's length in spite of his numerous letters and

gifts, Katherine is advised of her lady-in-waiting's powerful hold over her

husband. Pacing about the court like a caged animal, Henry finally snaps

and begs Anne to take him as her lover. She hints that she would make a

good Queen who would bear him sons. Katherine's fate is sealed. Henry

uses the fact that Katherine did not come to the marital bed as a virgin,

having already given herself to his brother, as divine proof that God has

rendered her infertile and sets the wheels in motion for an annulment.

Wolsey is fearful that this will 'separate England from the rest of

Europe' and begs him not to cast the Queen aside. But Henry is

resolute. He will have Anne -- and a son -- whatever the cost.

 

Katherine declares that she will fight to keep her position and a bitter war

within the court begins. During the trial, Katherine gives a moving performance.

The Pope will not let the decision happen in England and the trial is postponed.

Henry is furious that he does not have the result Wolsey promised him and,

encouraged by Anne, orders Wolsey to leave court.

 

As Henry sinks into desperate despair, Cromwell has an idea -- get rid of

Catholic Katherine and bring in a new Church, a church Henry would head.

This Act of Supremacy would leave him free to make decisions independently

of Rome. The Church of England is formed, much to the anger and disgust

of the people of England, who loved Katherine. With this proof that she

is not just another passing fancy, Anne finally relents. Before long, Anne

and Henry are married. Katherine, meanwhile, is stripped of all power and

banished from London. Princess Mary is declared a bastard.

 

Soon after, Anne gives birth to a baby girl, Elizabeth. Henry is devastated -- he

needs a son. The Seymour family begins to plot. 'If Anne Boleyn doesn't give

Henry what he wants, his eye will wander and we want you to be in the front

line,' Edward Seymour tells his sister Jane. Jane is horrified at the suggestion.

 

Meanwhile, the tide is turning against Anne, both inside court and out. People

are interpreting Anne's delivery of a girl as a sign that she shouldn't be Queen.

Some even go so far as to accuse her of being a witch who has put their

King under a cursed spell.

 

Henry is once again taking mistresses. Anne has suffered two miscarriages

and the future of her reign looks bleak. A violent confrontation ends in the King

raping his wife. Their relationship is now in tatters, a situation that causes great

joy in the Seymour household. It becomes clear that the King has eyes for

Jane. Anne, he has now realized, is 'a nightmare' -- everything the gentle,

pious Jane isn't.

 

Anne has yet another miscarriage. Comforted by her brother George, she

is unaware that Cromwell's spies, in particular George's bitter and jealous

wife Lady Rochford, are watching her. At the end of his tether, Henry

interprets Lady Rochford's tales as proof that Anne is sleeping with her

brother. 'Get rid of her -- your life depends on it,' he orders Cromwell.

It is decided that Cromwell will find evidence of adultery on Anne's part.

Men are tortured into confessions of intimacies with the Queen. Norfolk

advises the Boleyns that they must distance themselves from her and he,

himself, will sit in judgment on his niece. Anne is doomed and anyone

siding with her is as well.

 

Meanwhile, Henry has become besotted with Jane. Jane is resistant to his charms

although she is more than aware that she is being primed as Anne's replacement.

 

Anne is now alone in the Great Court of the Tower of London, being tried

before a jury of her peers, one of whom is her former fiancé Henry Percy,

now Earl of Northumberland. She is adamant that she has never been

unfaithful to her husband. Her plea of innocence falls on deaf ears.

The verdict is delivered: guilty.

 

Carpenters prepare the execution site as Anne's belongings and portraits

are removed from the palace and replaced with those of Jane Seymour.

 

Surrounded by her ladies in waiting, Anne calmly prepares herself for death. A

desperate Henry offers his wife a chance to save herself, giving her the

option of an annulment. If she accepts, this would make their child,

Elizabeth, a bastard. Anne would rather die then allow that to happen

to her daughter. And so, a roar goes up as Anne leads her procession

to the scaffolding to a barrage of vile insults from the vast crowds.

 

Henry sets off for a day of hunting with the Seymours, desperate to be

as far away as possible from the events taking place at the Tower of

London. As if by instinct, he stops to look back just in time to see a

distant plume of smoke, followed by the delayed sound of cannon fire

signifying the end of Anne's life. Remorse and fear overwhelm him and

he begs God for forgiveness.

 

 

Episode Two
It is the day after Anne Boleyn's execution; Henry VIII weds Jane Seymour.

A backlash of violence has erupted throughout his country as a result of the

dissolution of the Catholic Church. Raging battles plague the country. Hundreds

are being tortured and slaughtered by Henry's own soldiers while churches are

burned to the ground.

 

Finally, the massacre stops. Total devastation prevails. Dogs scavenge among

corpses while a group of volunteers pick their way through the chaos. One such

volunteer, Robert Aske, a former soldier of the King, is enraged by the atrocities

around him. Publicly voicing his opinions, he receives huge cries of support.

 

With a mass of horses and armed Pilgrims dressed for battle, Aske travels to

London for a battle against the King. On discovering his former lieutenant

has raised twenty thousand troops against him, Henry rages at Cromwell. The

idea of the dissolution was to increase his popularity and put an end to Catholic

corruption. Instead it has achieved the complete opposite. Furious, Henry

demands a meeting with Aske. Jane chooses this moment to announce that

she is pregnant and Henry's dark mood is transformed.

 

The King and Aske meet. The atmosphere is tense as Aske lists his demands

on behalf of the wronged. Agreeing to them all, Henry demonstrates that he is

not harbouring any ill will and invites Aske to join him at a banquet with his

knights that evening.

 

Aske returns to York after the banquet fully expecting a hero's welcome. Instead

the disgruntled Duke of Norfolk and his henchmen await his arrival. Aske is

tortured and his corpse hung from the Gates of York. A triumphant Norfolk

returns to the King, securing his place by Henry's side once more.

 

The anticipation that Jane may be carrying the male heir to the throne consumes

the court. Jane, however, is preoccupied with two more pressing issues. First,

she is determined to reinstate relations between Henry and Mary, his first

daughter, and invites her to court for a meeting with her father. The meeting

is successful -- Henry accepts Mary back, much to the dismay of the other courtiers.

 

Secondly, Jane is furious with Henry for his treatment of Aske. Yet he is in no

mood to answer to a mere woman. He rages back at her, reminding her that all

he wants from her is a son -- not her opinions or her meddling. His violent

outburst causes Jane to fall heavily, sending her into premature labor.

 

The physicians struggle to cope and after three days, Jane gives birth to a healthy

boy, Edward. Elated, Henry rushes to his Queen's bedside to thank and

congratulate her. But she is dangerously ill, slipping in and out of

consciousness. The physicians can do nothing. Queen Jane is gone.

 

Henry slumps into a deep depression and ages dramatically in the subsequent

years, gaining a great deal of weight and suffering from the riding wound to

his leg. With much convincing, Cromwell finally brings the King around to the

idea of another marriage with Anne of Cleves. Holbein, the King's preferred

portrait artist, is sent to Germany to paint her. Henry likes what he sees in

Holbein's portrait and agrees to the marriage. Norfolk becomes increasingly

concerned about the power Cromwell could gain if this match turns out to be a

success.

 

On meeting his future wife, Henry is disgusted by her appearance. Desperate

to call off the engagement which Cromwell has made impossible to break,

Henry pleads with Norfolk to find a way out. Norfolk has a plan and sets off

to pay a visit to his niece, Katherine Howard. Unaware that he has

interrupted Katherine while making love to her betrothed, Francis Dereham,

Norfolk sizes her up and is very pleased by what he sees. He is convinced

the King will be taken with this 15-year-old beauty too.

 

Five months into Henry's unconsummated marriage to Anne of Cleves,

Cromwell and the King's lawyers are still unable to find an 'out.' The

marriage could be dissolved but at great financial cost and embarrassment

to Henry. Henry's fury at being trapped in this way seals Cromwell's fate.

Cromwell walks to his execution to the familiar jeers of hatred from the

gathered crowds.

 

And so, Norfolk presents Katherine to Henry. Her youth and beauty captivate

him and he wastes no time in proposing. Norfolk is delighted -- his

power is secure and Henry is the happiest he has been in years.

 

But the wedding night is a disaster. Henry is impotent, and Thomas

Cramner discovers Katherine has not come to the marriage a virgin. Her

lack of sexual pleasure results in open flirtations with the younger male

members of the court. Norfolk and Lady Rochford are terrified by what

her behavior could mean for them, particularly her flirtations with

handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper. Their only safety net is the birth

of a son and heir, but both are painfully aware of Henry's impotence.

They hatch a plan using one problem to solve the other: 'The King

wants a son, but is unable. Katherine wants a lover, who is able...'

 

But the plan is destined to fail. Cranmer witnesses the Queen leaving

Culpeper's room. Immediately informing the King, Henry's utter

devastation sparks a violent rage in him. He confronts her, stripping

her of all titles and possessions. Cranmer is delighted.

 

Katherine's lovers Culpeper and Dereham are arrested and face execution.

Katherine prays that she be killed soon so she can join Culpeper in death.

The 17-years-old's beheading is met by muted, embarrassed silence from

onlookers -- the death of this poor young girl is too much even for this

bloodthirsty crowd. At the moment of her death, Henry falls to his knees,

praying for forgiveness. This once great King is a broken man. Humiliated,

rejected, diminished. A broken-hearted Henry banishes Norfolk and Lady

Rochford from court forever.

 

Eighteen months pass and time is not kind to Henry. His only companion

is food and he looks old and frail. He has been introduced to Katherine

Parr and is impressed by her intelligence, modesty, and virtue and

approaches the subject of marriage, admitting he is close to death

and in need of a companion. But Katherine is promised elsewhere

and reveals her betrothal to Thomas Seymour.

 

Edward Seymour persuades his brother, Thomas, to let Katherine marry the King,

convincing him she is more of an attractive prospect when she can bring

all the land and revenue of a widow to a marriage. He agrees and

consents to her marriage with Henry.

 

Katherine soon grows to love the King and makes it her mission to

repair relations between Henry and his children. Both Elizabeth and

Mary agree to a meeting, but the excitement of reconciliation is too

much for Henry and suddenly, unable to speak, he clutches his chest

and falls to the floor, gasping for breath.

 

Upon his deathbed, Cranmer is present and has a mountain of paperwork

for Henry to sign. He manages to sign two of the death warrants with

difficulty. When attempting to sign the third -- for the Duke of Norfolk --

his strength fails him and he lapses into unconsciousness.

 

Prince Edward is called to his father's bedside. Henry asks of Edward what

the most important thing is to be a successful King. Naturally, Edward's

answer is to have a son. Henry objects. 'For you to be successful as a

King, you must first be successful as a man.'

 

Moments later, King Henry VIII is dead.

 

 

 

 

An Interview with the Screenwriter

Cast Comments

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