Just shy of a decade since the first series aired, the BBC has released first look images of Sir Mark Rylance’s return as Thomas Cromwell, alongside Kate Phillips and Damian Lewis as Jane Seymour and Henry VIII.
Wolf Hall follows Hilary Mantel’s series of historical novels of the same name, focusing on the rise of Thomas Cromwell through the court of Henry VIII (Damian Lewis, Homeland). The close of series one saw Cromwell rise to a place of political power, followed by the execution of Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy, The Crown), which means series two, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, will see Kate Phillips’ (Peaky Blinders) Jane Seymour take her place as the third queen
It has been nine years since the first series aired, with its material being based of Mantel’s 2009 novel Wolf Hall. With it being a stand-alone book, a second series wasn’t considered until its sequel The Mirror and The Light was published in 2020.
The second series picks up in 1536; in the wake of Henry VIII’s first beheading, no one in the royal court feels safe. Now it’s not only their jobs and reputation at stake – it’s their lives. As a lawyer from humble beginnings, Thomas Cromwell only has himself, and he becomes caught between his morals and values, a need to survive, and a desire for religious reform in England.
(Credit: BBC/Company Productions Ltd/Gyles Keyte)
The first look images give a look into the court of Henry VIII, as well as revealing the new cast joining Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, including Succession’s Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole, Timothy Spall (The Sixth Commandment) as the Duke of Norfolk and Harry Melling (The Queen’s Gambit) as Thomas Wriothesley.
Returning to the series alongside Rylance, Phillips and Lewis are Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Queen’s Gambit) as Rafe Sadler, Will Keen (His Dark Materials) as Archbishop Cranmer, Hannah Steele (Black Mirror) as Mary Shelton, Lilit Lesser (Endeavour) as Princess Mary, Joss Porter (Humans) as Richard Cromwell, Paul Clayton (Him & Her) as Sir William Kingston, James Larkin (Black Mirror) as Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam, Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) as Cardinal Wolsey, Alex Jennings (Mr Bates vs The Post Office) as Stephen Gardiner and Charlie Rowe (Gigi & Nate) as Gregory Cromwell and Richard Dillane (Argo) as the Duke of Suffolk.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light will air in six parts on BBC One and iPlayer, with no release date yet announced.
All pictures credited to BBC/Company Productions Ltd/Giles Keyte
