Just as the Roman Empire still occupies a significant amount of territory in men’s minds, apparently, so does the Tudor dynasty in TV more generally, especially when it comes to the slew of pop culture titles on offer.

Think about it. Earlier this year, we were given Shardlake, an eerie whodunnit thriller set during the dissolution of the monasteries. Hot on its heels came My Lady Jane, a brilliantly irreverent romantasy that reimagines the story of Lady Jane Grey, the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, who was proclaimed Queen of England following the death of her cousin, Edward VI (Henry VIII’s son). Alicia Vikander and Jude Law are getting their Tudor on in Firebrand, which shines a light on Henry VIII and his ‘survivor’ wife, Katherine Parr. And it was recently confirmed that Sir Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis will return for a second season of the much-loved Wolf Hall, which – as per Hilary Mantel’s novels – follows the career of the shrewd Thomas Cromwell at the court of King Henry VIII. 

Throw in all of the Tudor-inspired series on Starz (Becoming Elizabeth, The White Queen, The Spanish Princess) not to mention the fact that the dynasty inspired the central analogy between Game of Thrones/House Of The Dragon and the Wars of the Roses – and it seems our screens will never be done with this period of history.

So, what gives? This is, after all, an era that spans just 117 years and, to be perfectly honest, most people are wholly focused on the events that occurred during Henry VIII’s 38-year reign. Why do we continue to – ahem – lose our heads over this particular chapter of English history?

Well, that little pun has a lot to do with it all. The Tudors, after all, are often introduced to us via that macabre children’s rhyme: “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”. Six women remembered with just six measly little words; six women – queens, political thinkers, trailblazers, and authors – whose identities are wholly reduced to that of their husband and his treatment of them (until the fabulous show Six: The Musical put them centre stage). Six women who played significant roles in a time of great social, political, and religious upheaval, one that paved the way to the modern Britain we know and live in today, who often feel like characters in a TV show.

“The Tudors is the original TOWIE,” one of my friends quipped as we discussed the endless allure of the dynasty. By which she meant, of course, that this is a historical chapter that positively oozes drama in every sense of the word; think the wars, the upstart king, the string of failed marriages, the endless peacocking. All of the divorce and infidelity and sibling rivalries! The beheadings! The rumours and high stakes gossip! The banishments and bonkings! It’s all just so wonderfully soapy, isn’t it?

Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, agrees wholeheartedly with this take, saying: “When it comes to the Tudors, you couldn’t make it up. There’s a King who marries six times, a virgin Queen, Shakespeare, overseas adventurers… and all of these larger than life characters were captured by Hans Holbein, the equivalent of a court photographer, whose startlingly realistic portraits provide a window into another world. It’s just so dramatic and utterly addictive, so there’s no wonder we keep coming back for more.”

Considering the era also makes for sumptuous costumes, high romance, and an unmistakable whiff of sexiness (something which is largely due to The Tudors’ Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who has worked harder than the devil himself to make us forget that the real Henry VIII was grotesquely obese with a mouth of blackened teeth and a festering leg wound) the Tudors lend themselves incredibly well to the world of pop culture. Indeed, as well as a number of appearances in silent films, TudorHistory.org states that the dynasty has been the subject of almost 100 films and TV shows – not including Anne Boleyn’s fleeting appearance in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone. And let’s not forget the string of novels and stage productions.

Once upon a time, these stories stuck to the story of Henry and his wives that we learned via that aforementioned rhyme. Now, showrunners and directors are looking beyond the bare bones of these stories to shine a light on these powerful female characters and the roles they played in shaping the UK as we know it now. To highlight the women – such as Anne Askew – the author, preacher and proto-feminist who defied her husband and was condemned as a heretic – that history has largely forgotten. To expose the uncanny, often frightening parallels, between the past and the present. And to, perhaps more crucially, use the stories of Katherine Parr (perhaps the least known of the six wives, despite the fact she wrote the first original book published by an English queen under her own name) and her peers so that they might better explore important modern day themes surrounding the ideas of consent, misuse of power, privilege, classism, sexism and persecution.

Yes, we all learned about the Tudors in primary school and thus think we know everything there is to know about them. And yes, some might roll their eyes over the fact that pop culture will never ever let this dynasty go. In a world of elegant period pieces and regency romances, though, there’s no denying that the Tudors offer a welcome thrill of nastiness to the genre – not to mention a chance to a) confront some of history’s biggest misogynists and expose their sins to the world and b) pay homage to those women who deserved more from the society’s they were born into, too.

Come for the TOWIE-esque drama, then, and stay for the shifted perspectives and wonderfully radical history lessons. You won’t regret a single moment.

Images: BBC Pictures, Amazon