Dan Jones: 'Henry VIII wasn't the monster we all think he was' 

After picking up a first class degree in History from Cambridge - where he studied under eminent Tudor historian David Starkey - writer Dan Jones set himself a challenge to blow the cobwebs off the history books and bring the tales and truths of the past firmly into the present.

Tonight, the 34-year old\'s latest project, a pioneering retelling of the life of Henry VIII, will begin on Channel 5 - the historian\'s third docudrama for the station since they revamped their historical output three years ago.

viewers will see Jones\' informative historical dialogues intercut with sequences of glossy period drama - bringing factual and fictitious storytelling together in a way rarely seen on television. But is there really anything new to learn about our most famous king?

 "People will hopefully be surprised," Jones tells me. "I think it’s very easy to caricature Henry. The Henry that we know – or rather think we know – is a fat, bloated and bloodthirsty tyrant. The paintings we see and accounts we read present him, quite frankly, as a monster.

 "And it’s very easy to forget that this really wasn’t the story for the majority of his life. Henry VIII was a strapping, dashing and tall Renaissance prince.

Jones promises to show a different side to Henry VIII in the new show

 "So I hope the series will shed some light on the lesser-known Henry," the young historian continues, "and there is so much to learn - his life is constantly surprising, even now. There is a real evolution of character throughout his life, and hopefully by blending drama and documentary in this way, that will really come across."

“It is national politics played out as a soap opera. This is domestic drama that has constitutional, religious, cultural and social implications that we still feel today.”

Jones, who co-presents the new show with fellow historian Suzannah Lipscomb, believes that our national obsession with Henry stems from the amount of secrets we can still uncover about the Tudor monarch to this day.

 "Henry VIII is one of the big recurring topics in British history," says Jones, "and people keep coming back to him time and again. There’s an endless fascination with his life.

 "And I think that may be because it is national politics played out as a soap opera. This is domestic drama that has constitutional, religious, cultural and social implications that we still feel today. So to tell this amazing story of one man and his many loves and losses was a golden opportunity."

Jones co-presents the show with fellow historian Suzannah Lipscomb

Jones, who has written best-selling books on the Plantagenets, the War of the Roses and the Magna Carta, hoped that by telling the story of Henry through the eyes of his wives, audiences would find a new way into this schoolroom staple subject.

 "These six wives were not simply incidental floozies in the life of a tyrant, but rather political players in their own right, whose lives existed before and, in some cases, even after Henry’s. 

 "And they\'re usually just remembered through the poem: Divorced, Beheaded, Died. Divorced, Beheaded Survived," continues Jones, "and to do that is to write off six very different, powerful and compelling women – whose stories are fascinating and important as well. So that\'s the reason we’re using the queens to revamp the story of Henry VIII."

 "You can find out a lot about Henry through his wives - the way he treated them or ended the marriages.

 "For example, the history books have done a particular disservice to Ann of Cleves," says the historian. "Henry’s fourth wife is remembered as a dowdy old dog to whom Henry pitched up, took one look and said ‘no thank you, she’s foul.’ When in fact, it was actually Ann who found Henry repulsive, and not the other way around.

 "Henry, trying to be courtly and charming, disguised himself and snuck into her room when visiting Rochester, and she was meant to see through the disguise and recognise the glamorous king underneath. Instead, she just saw this fat, ulcerous and grotesque figure burst into her room and start pawing at her. So, quite rightly, she outright rejected him.

 "And we think that, after years of encountering nothing but compliance and acquiescence, it may have been this public rejection and humiliation that rankled Henry and has led to Ann’s very negative portrayal in history.

Ex-Eastenders actor Charlie Clements will fill the shoes of the monarch in the drama sequences

 "But, whilst this story is more like the Henry we all we know," says Jones, "I think that the man you’ll meet in the first couple of episodes will question that stereotype of the fat old tyrant.

 "You’ll see this incredibly glamorous Renaissance prince, taking the throne at 17-years old – attractive and charismatic – when it felt like a new glorious era of British kingship is being ushered in. He was, without a doubt, a very educated and enquiring young man who impressed his visitors. He was physically very dashing and athletic. He was the perfect vision of kingship."

Dan Jones believes 2016 is an "amazing" time to be creating historical television

Jones - with his leather jackets and readiness to compare historical events to soap operas - is well on the way to bringing the past up to speed with the present, and believes that this is an "amazing" time to be writing history books and making historical television shows.  

“He was, without a doubt, a very educated and enquiring young man who impressed his visitors. He was physically very dashing and athletic. He was the perfect vision of kingship.”

 "There is a huge market for history of all genres," says the historian, "and some of that has been driven by stuff like Game of Thrones, Wolf Hall, The Vikings – big, lavish productions. So it’s sexy, it’s entertaining. And I think there’s a natural progression when people watch shows like that, fictional or not, and then think ‘I wonder what the real history was like?’"

 "And it’s a real pleasure to be able to present the facts in such an exciting way. There is still a certain fustiness to history’s reputation, but we want to give it balls, give it a bit of pizzazz. We want to tell these stories with both passion and intelligence, and the tale of Henry VIII and his six wives is the perfect piece of popular history with which to do that."

Henry VIII and his Six Wives begins tonight at 8pm on Channel 5

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