This production ran on BBC 2 from 21st January until 15th February 2015.
Told from Cromwell’s perspective, Wolf Hall follows the complex machinations and back room dealings of this pragmatic and accomplished power broker – from humble beginnings and with an enigmatic past – who must serve king and country while dealing with deadly political intrigue, Henry VIII’s tempestuous relationship with Anne Boleyn and the religious upheavals of the Protestant reformation.
A historical drama for a modern audience, this unromanticized re-telling lifts the veil on the Tudor middle class and the internal struggles England faced on the brink of Reformation. At the center of it all is Cromwell, navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power, trapped between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive.
Tony® Award-winning actor Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winner Damian Lewis (Homeland) star in the six-hour television miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s bestselling Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. The television event presents an intimate and provocative portrait of Thomas Cromwell, the brilliant and enigmatic consigliere to King Henry VIII, as he maneuvers the corridors of power at the Tudor court.
BAFTA Award-winner Peter Kosminsky (White Oleander, The Government Inspector) directs this flagship production adapted by Oscar® nominee Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). Filmed entirely on location in England at National Trust properties, Mark Rylance is Thomas Cromwell, the son of a brutal blacksmith who rises from the ashes of personal disaster, and deftly picks his way through a court where ‘man is wolf to man.’ Damian Lewis is King Henry VIII, haunted by his brother’s premature death and obsessed with protecting the Tudor dynasty by securing his succession with a male heir to the throne.
CAST
MARK RYLANCE – Thomas Cromwell
DAMIAN LEWIS – Henry VIII
CLAIRE FOY – Anne Boleyn
THOMAS BRODIE-SANGSTER – Rafe Sadler
JOSS PORTER – Richard Cromwell
BERNARD HILL – Duke of Norfolk
HANNAH STEELE – Mary Shelton
JESSICA RAINE – Jane Rochford
RICHARD DILLANE – Duke of Suffolk
SASKIA REEVES – Johane Williamson
LUKE ROBERTS – Harry Norris
DAVID ROBB – Sir Thomas Boleyn
KATE PHILLIPS – Jane Seymour
EDWARD HOLCROFT – George Boleyn
JOEL MACCORMACK – Thomas Wriothesley
WILL KEEN – Thomas Cranmer
JACOB FORTUNE-LLOYD – Francis Weston
TOM HOLLAND – Gregory Cromwell
CREATIVES
PETER KOSMINSKY – Director
HILLARY MANTEL – Writer
PETER STRAUGHAN – Adaptation
DEBBIE WISEMAN – Music
GAVIN FINNEY – Cinematography