Royal Bastards: Rise of the Tudors

The Tudors came into Britain's royal history in 1485 when Henry VII was crowned, but the backstory isn't well known.

This short series provides a really worthwhil,e and well-explained look at what happened, centring on Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, and her determined struggle to get him into the throne.

The format, using three 3 top-flight actors as on-camera narrators, and very well-produced dramatic re-enactments, was very engaging - I watched all 3 episodes on Sky catch-up in one session.

The language and the action in the re-enactments is rough and tough, and maybe shocking, but reflects real life in that era, when anyone else's life other than your own, was unimportant.

I enjoyed every minute. The only caveat I have is that some minor characters are a little difficult to follow- a couple of mentions and they are gone!

I was surprised that the secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was left out as that played a pivotal role on why Warwick fell out with Edward, plus Elizabeth's large family's constant power grab played a part also. Was disappointed with that but overall really well done.

This is a really enjoyable retelling of key elements in the rise of Henry Tudor through the critical influence of Margaret Beaufort. However, what really detracts from this is how heavily biased this is to the Tudor narrative, and doesn't explain that bias at any point.

The most ridiculous element has to be how they present the mystery of the princes in the tower. As far as this telling goes, Richard had them murdered in cold blood. No conjecture, no mystery - "Richard did it". Nothing about what Beaufort gained with them being out of the way (i.e. Tudor's claim to the throne).

There's also no mention of the Woodville influence in the mix. The timeline is fast and loose, they don't explain the mood of court....the list of critical omissions is endless. But nevertheless it'd enjoyable historical fiction.

This series follows the story of the rise of the Tudors and the twists and turns and bloody battles of the war of the roses.

The narrators were well chosen and the re-enactments were spot on. It's a complicated story, but is presented in a way which is easy to follow.

Some might be put off by the frequent use of bad language and gore during the dramatised scenes, but for me this just made it more gripping and realistic.

Well worth watching if you have any interest in history, or even if you just like a riveting drama.

A great story and a good idea of how to tell it. Feels historically accurate if a little graphic. The main problem I have is the swearing. It's almost constant and quite frankly unnecessary. Did they actually speak like it? I think not and there is no need ever to use the c word in what purports to be a documentary. Should have guessed by the title.