Steamy sex, savage violence and historical fiction: It's good to be king in The Tudors.

With maturing Irishman Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing Henry VIII -- the King of England, Wales and Ireland from 1509 to 1547 -- The Tudors is a superior soap opera that has captivated viewers and generated a fanatical following.

The series works wonderfully well on television, including on the CBC in Canada.

It works even better as home entertainment. The DVD and Blu-ray releases are all uncut editions, increasing the intensity of the lurid scenes, and they preserve the original widescreen cinematography.

The Tudors: The Complete Third Season arrived this week on DVD as a three-disc box set. In addition, all three seasons are now available in Blu-ray.

Each Blu-ray is a three-disc set with identical bonus materials to the standard DVDs. With The Complete First Season, those extras are extensive, including a visit with creator Michael Hirst.

More significantly, there are long interview clips with Meyers, who demonstrates a remarkable grasp of the real history, the fiction in his series and the cinematic roots of the Tudor era.

The extras for Season 2 are still strong, if less extensive.

The extras for Season 3 are disappointing. The profane blooper reel, however, is pretty funny as actors let their guard down while flubbing lines. When Season 4 -- the finale -- arrives in 2010, we do expect more.

The Tudors is stunningly beautiful on Blu-ray. Visuals are crisp, clean, richly coloured and simply glorious for showing detail, including in the rich fabrics. But Blu-ray is also unforgiving, so minor mistakes -- the cheesy London skyline in the very first episode -- are also emphasized.

As entertainment, The Tudors is terrific, especially with Meyers increasingly able to portray the nuances of Henry's mercurial character.

This latest season also changes the nature of the storytelling. The first two seasons moved gradually through the dissolution of the king's failing marriage to Catherine of Aragon and into his doomed, dangerous liaison with Anne Boleyn. Wife number three, Jane Seymour, is introduced as a possibility.

Season 3 rips through two wives -- Seymour and Anne of Cleves -- with astonishing speed. We also meet future number five, Katherine Howard.

Throughout the series, themes of corruption, power-mongering, religion, politics and the passions of the state intersect. Usually there are dire consequences for those who raise the ire of Henry. Season 4 chronicles his descent into madness.

An historical note: As creator Hirst pointed out from day one, The Tudors plays fast and loose with reality. But Season 3 may be the most accurate to date. Still, if you want to know the truth, and nothing but the truth, do separate research.