The Tudors

As he seeks the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII seeks to appoint himself the head of the Church of England. Anne Boleyn insists that Henry remove Queen Catherine from the picture – and Court. The new Pope Paul III, not wanting to displease either the king or the Emperor, practically suggests that Anne Boleyn be assassinated instead. Lutheran clergyman Thomas Cranmer, newly arrived at Court, receives a promotion as the king's chaplain at the behest of Cromwell and the Boleyns. Thomas and George Boleyn bribe a cook to poison the food of Catherine's strongest supporter, Bishop of Rochester John Fisher; however, the bishop survives and the cook is boiled alive. King Henry banishes the Queen from court. At the end of this episode the Spanish ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, is seen discussing the assassination of Anne with an unknown, hooded man.

As the Catholic Church struggles in vain to control Henry VIII's demands for an annulment, the King appoints himself head of the Church of England; initial protests are stifled when Archbishop of Canterbury William Warham officially submits the Clergy to Henry. When Anne Boleyn insists Henry break all contacts with Catherine, the Queen is banished from court. The Reformation has begun; depressed by his failure to prevent it, Sir Thomas More resigns as Henry's Chancellor. Charles Brandon's growing hatred for the Boleyns – and his mistrust of Cromwell – causes him to abandon his alliance with them, losing him the King's favor again. Anne is created Marquess of Pembroke before she and Henry visit France to present Anne as the future Queen of England and Henry's future wife. After talks between both Henry and Anne with the French King to secure his support, in their chamber, Anne finally submits sexually to Henry, asking him to help her conceive the son and heir they both want, narrowly avoiding another encounter with the Imperial-hired assassin.

Henry destroys all ties with authority and the past. After many failed attempts to have his marriage to Catherine annulled by the Catholic Church, Henry runs out of patience and marries a pregnant Anne Boleyn in secret. He appoints the young Lutheran Thomas Cranmer to succeed the deceased William Warham as Archbishop of Canterbury and strips Queen Catherine of her title and status, along with Princess Mary; they are hence to be known as the Princess Dowager of Wales and the Lady Mary, respectively. As Sir Thomas More has resigned as Chancellor, Henry hands the position to the pro-Lutheran Thomas Cromwell. Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England to a small and uneager crowd and escapes an assassination attempt. Pope Paul III threatens to excommunicate the king and the church of England from the Roman Catholic Church if Henry does not return to Catherine, but Henry tears the papal edict in half. Henry is also disappointed when Anne Boleyn gives birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, instead of his desired son, and soon resumes his philandering with ladies of the court despite assuring Anne they will still have a son.

Questions of faith dominate the court. As the infant Princess Elizabeth is baptised, Thomas Cromwell unveils the 'Act of Succession', declaring that only children of Henry and Anne are legitimate successors to the English throne. A law is passed where every royal subject must take an oath, on pain of death, recognising the validity of the King's new marriage and the supremacy of Henry VIII in all matters. Although Charles Brandon reluctantly does so – thus restoring him to the King's favor again – Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More refuse and are imprisoned in the Tower. Catherine of Aragon lives now in total seclusion, and Lady Mary is sent to be a maid to the baby Princess Elizabeth, her half-sister. Anne soon discovers the identity of the King's new mistress and secretly has her brother George banish her. Pregnant again to Henry's delight, Anne, at her father's prompting, tacitly approves of the king's infidelity while she is with child, albeit those of her own choosing and posing no political threat to her.

Attempts to legitimise the King's marriage and increase his power hit firm obstacles as Sir Thomas More and Cardinal Fisher insist that only Christ can be the head of the church, but both of them are now arrested. Meanwhile Henry's wandering eye continues to roam. Queen Anne Boleyn unexpectedly miscarries her child and fears that the king has lost his love for her. Anne also fears the Lady Mary and Catherine of Aragon for she feels that Henry may still designate Mary as Heir over her own beloved daughter, Elizabeth. Also, Anne's relationship with her older sister, Mary Boleyn, deteriorates when Mary marries a commoner in secret and becomes pregnant with his child without asking her permission; Anne has the pair banished from court when pressured by her father Thomas Boleyn. Imprisoned in the Tower, Cardinal Fisher and Sir Thomas More face likely execution unless they take the Oath of Allegiance, which Cromwell encourages them to do. Both still refuse, even after More received pleas from his family, and both are found guilty of high treason, and are beheaded despite Henry's indecisiveness on Thomas More. Meanwhile, Catherine of Aragon's health begins to fail.

As the Reformation gathers pace, Sir Thomas Cromwell becomes ever more powerful as propagandist-in-chief of a new moral order. Royal confidence has given way to doubt. Henry is haunted by the memory of the executed Thomas More, while Queen Anne Boleyn's insecurities border on paranoia. Her husband's affairs continue and an effort to have her daughter Elizabeth betrothed to a French prince fails when the French King refuses to recognize the infant Princess's legitimacy; Anne's interference with policies both foreign and domestic also anger the King, as he expected her to play a more submissive role after receiving her crown. As a result of this debacle, deep fractures begin to appear in Henry and Anne's marriage. Meanwhile Charles Brandon feels remorse for being unfaithful to his wife, but resumes his friendship with the King.

As Thomas Cromwell's increasingly ruthless 'reforms' spread terror through an ever more vulnerable Catholic Church, Anne Boleyn has nightmares that her position at the King's side is under threat from the continued existence of former Queen Catherine and her daughter Mary. Catherine's death removes much of the perceived illegitimacy of Anne's position, and a passionate sexual encounter with Henry seems to heal the rift with her husband. However, she is still far from secure, and her quarrels with her former ally Cromwell alarm her father and brother. Meanwhile Henry is occupied by the sad news of Catherine's death and later has a happy encounter with Lady Jane Seymour. Anne Boleyn announces to her father that she is pregnant with a son.

At Henry's command Jane Seymour is made a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, much to the discomfort and suspicion of the Queen. Emperor Charles indicates through Chapuys his interest in renewing relations with England. However Charles insists on legitimizing Lady Mary as Henry's heir as his condition, something Cromwell knows Anne will oppose. When Henry is seriously injured in a jousting match all thoughts turn to who might succeed him. After he recovers, Anne finds Henry kissing with Jane, and her shock, anger and grief leads to another miscarriage- of a son. Infuriated by yet another failed pregnancy, the episode closes with Henry declaring to Cromwell that his marriage with Anne is null and void, saying he was 'bewitched' into marrying her.

Anne has lost her son, and with him her last chance at a lasting marriage with Henry. The King's affections are shifting anyway: the Seymour family are awarded new and more luxurious rooms at court and soon replace the Boleyns as the new royal favourites. Anne's behavior becomes more erratic as she is browbeaten by her family to help regain favor at any cost. Several members of the court, including Charles Brandon, begin to move against her, accusing her of adultery and witchcraft. Arrests are made of suspected lovers, and eventually of Anne herself. Cromwell leads the interrogations, torturing some of the scapegoats to force a false confession. All of the accused (apart from Thomas Wyatt), including the Queen, are sentenced to death. Four of Anne's supposed lovers, including her trusted friend Mark Smeaton and her beloved brother George are executed at the Tower while a grief-stricken Anne awaits her own fate.

As Anne Boleyn awaits her death, which is painfully delayed by the executioner's late arrival, Henry visits Jane Seymour and asks for her hand in marriage. Declaring his marriage to Anne null and void means that their daughter Elizabeth becomes illegitimate and is no longer in line to the throne, clearing the way for a legitimate heir to come from his marriage with Jane; meanwhile, Lady Mary, delighted at Anne's fall, hopes she will soon be reconciled with her father. George Boleyn and the other men that are supposedly Anne's lovers have been put to death, while Earl Thomas Boleyn is expelled from court in permanent disgrace. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer is still Anne's loyal ally, but he can do nothing for her except protect her daughter and take her final confession, in which she firmly maintains that she was never unfaithful to Henry. Despite the roles they played in bringing Anne and her family down, both Charles Brandon and Cromwell show some remorse, feeling that death is too harsh a punishment for her. The season ends as Anne loses her head, going to her death with great dignity and surprising sympathy from the onlookers and the executioner. Henry, on the other hand, breakfasts in splendor on a swan and looks forward to his oncoming third marriage, completely indifferent to the death of his second queen.