‘The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family’ Historian on How the Tudor Nobles ‘Got the Last Laugh’
Premiere
You know the story of their legendary rise and fall, but you’ve never seen it unfold like this. The three-part docuseries The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family tells the tale of the cunning 16th century clan — whose beautiful, ambitious daughter Anne famously became King Henry VIII’s second wife and was beheaded for treason — via in-depth interviews with historians (40 hours were shot, then edited) and lush dramatizations, many filmed at the Boleyns’ ancestral home, Hever Castle.
“We were keen to make everything fresh and vibrant, for them to feel like living, breathing people,” says Cate Hall, leader of development for the BBC’s documentary unit. “We looked at every surviving letter that chronicled what these people thought and felt. We wanted to give them back the words that they said.”
Tonight, scheming patriarch Thomas (Max Dowler) starts his ascent and grooms his children to enter the court’s inner circle. The eldest, married Mary (Elizabeth McCafferty), becomes Henry VIII’s mistress; son George (Sam Retford) is a courtier; and Anne (Rafaëlle Cohen, above) soon catches Henry’s eye as one of Queen Katherine’s ladies. He’d go on to break with the Catholic Church to wed her.
“The family play a huge role in overturning a thousand years of history,” Hall says. “In a way, the Boleyns got the last laugh. [Anne’s daughter,] Queen Elizabeth I, was one of England’s greatest monarchs.”
The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, Series Premiere, Sunday, August 28, 8/7c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org)
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