'The Boleyns' takes a historian's look at England's notorious family

Aug. 26—When the BBC calls for help peeking into the past, Nicola Clark makes sure to answer.

What makes the connection sweeter is that Clark's forte at the University of Chichester in West England is history.

Clark's research focuses primarily on women's dynastic and political roles across the late medieval and early modern period.

"The Tudor women are fascinating," Clark says. "It's like a soap opera."

Clark is one of the handful of historians featured in the BBC three-part series, "The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family," which begins airing at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1.

The documentary tells the story of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. She was tried on his orders for crimes of adultery and treason, led from her rooms at the Tower of London to her death by an executioner's sword.

Clark says to fully understand Boleyn's rise and fall, it's important to know more about her tight-knit, cunning and power-hungry family.

Based on 16th-century sources, including rare original letters and documents, the three-part series uses insights from leading Tudor scholars and dramatic reenactments to bring this story to life from the family's own perspective. Rising from obscurity to the apex of power, the Boleyns played a dangerous game and paid the ultimate price. But they changed the course of British history and left a remarkable legacy in the form of two magnificent monarchs: Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne, and Queen Elizabeth II, a direct descendant of Mary Boleyn.

"The idea for the project was to have no narrator," Clark says. "We use historians as the talking heads. I really like the idea that all of us contributed to it and then actors were the focal point."

A lot of time has passed since the Boleyns, but Clark says the era and the family remain fascinating.

"I love this whole period," she says. "It's like a soap opera. Add in crowns and it makes it more gripping. There's something really intoxicating with how people behaved and acting. Trying to wrap your head around it takes a lot of understanding."

The first part of the series is called "Ambition" and starts with patriarch Thomas Boleyn, who is determined to elevate the family name. But it is his ambitions for his three children — Mary, George and Anne — that will take them to the heart of the Tudor court.

The second part, which airs on Sept. 4, is called "Desire" and starts as Henry casts Mary Boleyn aside and turns his attention to her sister. A calculating courtier, Anne adeptly dazzles with her beauty, wit and seductive charm. Henry falls under her spell, and Anne does what all Boleyns do: makes good use of an opportunity.

The third part airs on Sept. 11 and is called "The Fall." It begins with a high-stakes gamble, where Anne makes her play for — and wins — the biggest prize in the kingdom. The Boleyns and their allies push Henry to break with the Catholic Church in Rome and claim his destiny as Supreme Head of the Church of England, overturning 1,000 years of history.

ON TV

"The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family" premieres 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1.