What happened to the Duke of Norfolk?

I’m enjoying the ongoing second season of the Tudors even more than the first. But as the second season is now half over it’s clear that one key character has gone missing. What happened to actor Henry Czerny who plays Thomas Howard, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk?

Thomas Howard first appears in Season 1 as a courtier in league with Edward Stafford (his brother-in-law), a contender for the throne. Yet when Edward is tried for treason, Howard presides over Edward’s trial and sentences him to death in an effort to secure his unstable position in the court (Charles Brandon reminds Howard that his father was executed by the King’s father). He holds a deep resentment for the power and influence of Cardinal Wolsey, and he teams up with Thomas Boleyn, with whom he is related by marriage, to sabotage the trust of the King in the Cardinal. The alliance between Howard and Boleyn results in a conspiracy to arange relations with Anne Boleyn and the King so that she can denounce the cardinal and promote the interests of the Howard and Boleyn families.

Season 2 should have seen an awesome and dramatic reversal of this alliance. While Thomas Boleyn is (probably accurately) portrayed as an anti-Papist, and Queen Anne was a fierce Protestant, Norfolk was a loyal Catholic. As Henry splits the Church of England from the Vatican, and as Thomas Boleyn finds new allies with reformists such as Thomas Cromwell, the alliance fractured and could have been portrayed beautifully. Had Howard appeared in this season, we would have seen the alliance breakdown and end with Norfolk presideing over Queen Anne’s trial, condemning to death both her and her brother George Boleyn.

The Duke of Norfolk ultimately suffered his own sticky end, but he survived most of the characters who do appear in the series, such as John Fisher, Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, and others. But we’re being denied the drama as Henry Czerny has gone missing. Was this because of scheduling or dispute between the actor and the studio? Could not another actor have been selected to take his place? Either way, a shame for this nonetheless excellent series.