Inside the Body of Henry VIII, HISTORY (TM) 2009

This film examined Henry VIII’s medical history. For me the highlight was squashing a pig to reconstruct his jousting accident of 1536.

‘Unexpectedly, exploding pigs shed light on the mystery of Henry VIII’s psyche … a different take on the widely perceived change in Henry’ – Nancy Banks-Smith, The Guardian

‘HENRY VIII’s transformation from Tudor heart-throb to gluttonous brute could have been triggered by a serious jousting accident … A 21st-century ‘autopsy’ of the sixtimes married monarch has concluded brain damage suffered during the dramatic fall could have been at the root of his personality change’. Daily Mail

‘In this intelligent and often wry documentary, a trio of experts examine the historical evidence behind Henry’s innumerable medical conditions. Smallpox, varicose ulcers, malaria and constipation are all put under the microscope, while his dismal reproductive record incurs a study of what might have lurked inside the royal codpiece’. The Sunday Times

‘Doctors have carried out a ‘virtual autopsy’ on Henry VIII – 462 years after his death. They found a jousting fall damaged his brain and drove him mad … the findings are revealed on a TV documentary screened on the History Channel’. The Sun Read more about the programme here.