Henry VIII
Henry VIII was a Tudor King of England. He had six wives. (TV: Let's Kill Hitler) All three of his legitimised children succeeded him as the English monarch: Edward VI, Mary I (who deposed Jane Grey) and Elizabeth I, but he had no grandchildren.[source needed]
According to Liz Shaw, who noted that history was not her strong point, Henry VIII "wasn’t known as the most good-natured of men", though he took an interest in "new learning", and proved to be more open to new ideas than his royal peers. (PROSE: Hiccup in Time)
The Seventh Doctor claimed to have helped the Tudors with their problems with aphids. He maintained that Henry might have written "Greenfly" instead of "Greensleeves" if it hadn't been for him. (PROSE: Tragedy Day)
Before he met Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, the First Doctor once argued with Henry VIII, so Henry threw a parson's nose at him. The Doctor threw it back. This argument was actually intentional of the Doctor, so that he might be sentenced to the Tower of London, where the TARDIS was located. (TV: "Strangers in Space")
The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown visited the court of Henry VIII on 4 May 1536 (AUDIO: Recorded Time), as did the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa in December 1539. (PROSE: God Send Me Well to Keep) Liz Shaw, joined by the Third Doctor, also met Henry VIII in 1539. (PROSE: Hiccup in Time) The Doctor received six wedding invitations from Henry VIII. (COMIC: The Gift)
In 1539, the Third Doctor cured Henry VIII of his cataracts with his sonic screwdriver, and Liz and the Doctor finally relieved the King of his hiccups. On regaining his eyesight, King Henry expressed discontent at the appearance of his prospective new wife, the Lady Anne of Cleves, based on her miniature portrait, calling the woman "ugly as my privy!" No longer blind, the King was also rejuvenated by his newfound sight, and invited the Doctor and Liz to Hampton Court, though they declined. (PROSE: Hiccup in Time)
In 1544 Henry VIII employed a 22nd century time travelling thief named Lord Volta to steal riches from the future for him, not realising futuristic money would be useless in his own time. He met Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax when they followed Volta through a time portal and landed in his court. He was entranced with Vastra's scales and proposed to her, but when she declined and Strax offered himself in exchange, Henry VIII became enraged and ordered Strax beheaded. (PROSE: The Tudor Engagement)
However, the Seventh Doctor later claimed that he had never met him. (PROSE: Tragedy Day)
The Eighth Doctor claimed that Henry VIII had mistaken him for a jester. (AUDIO: Terror Firma)
The Tenth Doctor later mentioned having had dinner with him. (PROSE: Revenge of the Judoon)
Rory Williams accidentally dropped a mobile phone charger in one of Henry's en suites. (TV: A Town Called Mercy) While on a side-trip in the TARDIS on her wedding anniversary to Rory Williams, Amy Pond accidentally married Henry. (TV: The Power of Three)
The Second Doctor and Polly counted the six wives of Henry VIII using the rhyme "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived", (PROSE: The Roundheads) apparently unaware of his marriage to Amy. (TV: The Power of Three)
At the time of the Reformation King Henry VIII declared himself as the head of the English church. Under his daughter Elizabeth I, priest and followers of the Catholic Church found themselves being persecuted. However the Catholics built secret rooms and passages in their houses so that the priests could hold their services in secret and escape. That was why the St Agnes Abbey also had some secret passages. (PROSE: Eye of the Gorgon)
After his resurrection in the City of the Saved, Henry married Marilyn Monroe. (PROSE: A Hundred Words from a Civil War)
Behind the scenes
- According to The Brilliant Book 2012, a book that contains non-narrative based information, in River Song's World Henry was the subject of a reality TV series, with film cameras inhabiting his house 24/7. He described this as agony.
- Since the Tenth Doctor married Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII later became his father-in-law. (TV: The Day of the Doctor) This would make Amy, who was already his mother-in-law, his mother-in-law for a second time. (TV: The Power of Three)
- He was played by Keith Barron in God's Outlaw: The Story of William Tyndale, Rusty Goffe in U.F.O. and Brian Blessed in The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything.
- According to volume 71 of The Complete History, though not made clear in the episode, the scene in Henry VIII's bedroom in The Power of Three was intended to show the TARDIS trio returning to get Rory's mobile phone charger after Rory had left it behind before A Town Called Mercy.
