‘The Tudors,’ 10 p.m. Sunday HBO

The creators of this 10-hour miniseries tackle the weighty question of how to make history attractive for viewers with short attention spans. (Those with attention spans are already watching the History Channel. Besides, they’re the wrong demographic.)

The answer: Make it lusty and busty. And jam in lots of symbolic action as well.

“The Tudors” focuses on the first decade in the reign of Henry VIII. But this isn’t the old, fat, bearded, wife-discarding Henry that everyone remembers. Instead, he’s a libidinous young stud played by Irish hottie Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

Tudor England was a cauldron of intrigue. Cardinal Wolsey (played by a reptilian Sam Neill) had the young king’s ear, and idealistic Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) had his best interests at heart. Others led by the Duke of Norfolk (Henry Czerny) and Thomas Boleyn (Nick Dunning) schemed against him at the same time. (Boleyn soon offers up his daughter Anne (Natalie Dormer), who has caught Henry’s roving eye, to the conspiracy.)

Taking the throne at 18, Henry inherited the older Catherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy), his late brother’s wife and a member of the Spanish royal family, as his queen, partly so her dowry wouldn’t have to be returned. Oblivious to his wife’s feelings, he had his way with many women in the court, eventually gaining a male heir from one such dalliance.

Yes, that’s right: Henry diddled while England burned.

Creator Michael Hirst has done something amazing with “The Tudors.” He has developed a series that’s more like “The Sopranos” in period costume than “Masterpiece Theater.”

“The Tudors” is a bawdy take on a tempestuous time. So buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride, whether on horseback or in the carriage.