We’re excited to share first-look pictures for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light which were released by the BBC and Masterpiece PBS as filming wrapped on the forthcoming series earlier this month.
Production for the six part series based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy, has been based at The Bottle Yard Studios whilst filming on location across England and Wales for the past four months.
The new pictures show Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII, Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour, Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, 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. Further casting can be found here.
Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Reuniting the creative team from the BAFTA and Golden Globe winning first series, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is directed by seven-time BAFTA award winner Peter Kosminsky (The Undeclared War, The State), adapted for television by Academy award nominee Peter Straughan(Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank) and produced by Colin Callender’s Playground (The Undeclared War, All Creatures Great and Small) and Company Pictures (Van Der Valk, Blood).
May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry’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.
Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
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 VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe.
Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
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?
Harry Melling as Thomas Wriothesley (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Eagerly awaited and years in the making, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a diplomat and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.
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.
L-R: Timothy Spall as the Duke of Norfolk and Alex Jennings as Stephen Gardiner (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
Charlie Rowe as Gregory Cromwell (image: BBC/Masterpiece PBS)
The six-part series will air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and further information will be announced in due course. Series one is available to watch on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on the PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel in the US and is available from Banijay Rights.