Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light began on on BBC One and BBC iPlayer last night, and the adaptation of the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy has already been lauded by critics as “six hours of utter TV magic” and “titanic Tudor drama” (The Guardian), “sumptuous” (The Times), “glorious” (The Independent) and “the drama of the year” (The Telegraph).
Production for the six part series was based in production offices at The Bottle Yard Studios whilst filming took place on location across England and Wales between December 2023 and April 2024. Read more about how we helped the production team achieve a sustainable scenery strike, here.
Filming locations in the West of England region included Wells Cathedral Library, Montacute House and Barrington Court (Somerset), Great Chalfield Manor and Lackock Abbey (Wiltshire), Berkeley Castle and Horton Court (Gloucestershire).
Reuniting the creative team from the BAFTA and Golden Globe winning first series (which also based production at The Bottle Yard Studios whilst filming on location in 2014), Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light traces the final four years of Cromwell’s life. It is directed by seven-time BAFTA award winner Peter Kosminsky (The Undeclared War), adapted for television by Academy award nominee Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
Images: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs
Academy Award winner Mark Rylance returns to his BAFTA-winning role of Thomas Cromwell, with Emmy Award winner Damian Lewis returning as King Henry VIII, alongside Academy Award nominee Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey. Also returning are Kate Phillips as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Cast also includes Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole, Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Timothy Spall as the Duke of Norfolk, Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner and Charlie Rowe as Gregory Cromwell.
Images: BBC/Playground Entertainment/Nick Briggs
May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, is dead. As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.
Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army. Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry having executed his queen, no one is safe.
Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows.
The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (6×60’) is a Playground and Company Pictures co-production for the BBC and MASTERPIECE. The series will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights. The series is directed by Peter Kosminsky, adapted by Peter Straughan, and produced by Lisa Osborne. Executive Producers are Colin Callender and Noëlette Buckley for Playground, Peter Kosminsky, Lucy Richer for the BBC, and Susanne Simpson for MASTERPIECE.
Watch Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light on Sundays at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. New episodes are released weekly.