Henry VIII on Screen: The Historians' Verdict

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

King Henry VIII is best known for his tempestuous marriages and his penchant for cutting off people’s heads. But where does fiction meet fact?

In this special episode, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by a panel of experts to discuss Henry on screen and what those portrayals got right or wrong. Who gave the most convincing performance? Was it Damien Lewis in Wolf Hall, Robert Hardy in A Man for All Seasons, Jude Law in Firebrand, or Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII?

Dr Joanne Paul, Jessie Childs and Alex von Tunzelmann join Suzannah to explore why this towering figure continues to fascinate us more than 500 years after he came to the throne.

More:

Thomas More on Film: The Historians' Verdict

Mary Queen of Scots on Film: The Historians' Verdict

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The audio editors are Alex Elkins and Amy Haddow and the producers are Fiona Turnock and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:32.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to not just the Tudors from History Hit, the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs, from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise.
0:46.8	Relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft. Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.
1:09.6	Few English monarchs loom larger in the public imagination than King Henry VIII.
1:15.6	Stradling the line between man and myth, he's best known for his infamous six marriages
1:21.6	and his penchant for cutting people's heads off.
1:24.6	But where does the fiction meet the facts? In this special, not just the
1:29.7	Tudor's Lates episode, I'm joined by a panel of experts to discuss how Henry VIII has been
1:36.3	reimagined onto the screen and what those portrayals get right and wrong. Who will we decide
1:42.7	has given the most convincing portrayal of Henry?
1:46.1	Will it be Damien Lewis in Wolf Hall, Robert Shaw in a man full seasons, Jude Law in
1:52.5	the recent film Firebrand or Charles Lawton, way back in 1933 in the private life of Henry
1:58.9	the 8th. That was the moment when eating a chicken that your
2:01.6	hands became an abiding image of Henry and his allegedly voracious appetites.
2:07.5	Joining me on the sofa once again are some of my regulars. Historian Dr. Joanne Poole,
2:12.5	author of The House of Dudley and Thomas Moore, A Life and Death in Tudor England.
2:16.8	Award-winning writer
2:17.8	Jesse Charles, author of The Siege of Loyalty House, and the multi-talented columnist
	...

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