Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII in The Tudors.

The Tudors will be missed.

Over four lush seasons, in a world of lowest-common-denominator television, The Tudors has provided at least one hour of smart TV per week.

Viewers enjoyed the drama, and subsequently were prompted to learn more about Henry VIII and this fascinating period in English and European history.

But all good things must end, and Tuesday on CBC, The Tudors concludes its Canadian run with the series-finale episode, titled Death of a Monarchy.

Notably in this final season, the costuming and makeup people have done a wonderful job aging Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Henry VIII. And Meyers, now 33, has proved adept at “acting older,” as they say.

It’s interesting to note, though, that Henry VIII was only 55 when he died. In surviving portraits he looks much older, which speaks to the harsh conditions and dubious diet of the 1500s.

Meyers, of course, never really has looked like Henry VIII, and fortunately The Tudors did not try too hard in that regard. Meyers simply put his own take on the famous monarch.

“I have no choice,” Meyers told us with a shrug when we interviewed him last year.

He also pointed out there isn’t a single human being alive today who can say with any authority that his portrayal of Henry VIII is incorrect in any way. Fair point.

In Tuesday’s episode, as Henry deteriorates, he is visited by the ghosts of some of his past wives.

The Tudors recently won the Gemini Award for best Canadian drama, even though, as an international co-production, categorizing this show as “Canadian TV” is quite a stretch, logically if not technically.

But regardless of that, as we stated off the top, The Tudors will be missed. In fact, it probably will be missed more than the fascinating but dangerous Henry VIII in the immediate aftermath of his demise.