Encore Sundays, Oct. 27 - Dec. 1, 2024 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream the series now with KPBS Passport!
Coming Soon! WOLF HALL "The Mirror and the Light" premieres Sunday, March 23, 2025 on MASTERPIECE on PBS.
Tony® Award-winning actor Mark Rylance and Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winner Damian Lewis star in the six-hour television miniseries adapted from Hilary Mantel’s best-selling Booker Prize-winning novels: "Wolf Hall" and its sequel, "Bring Up the Bodies." BAFTA Award-winner Peter Kosminsky directs this flagship MASTERPIECE production adapted by Oscar® nominee Peter Straughan.
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. MASTERPIECE brings both of these works to life in WOLF HALL.
Mark Rylance is Thomas Cromwell, a brutal blacksmith’s son 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.
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.
The cast also includes Claire Foy as the future queen Anne Boleyn, Bernard Hill as the king's military commander the Duke of Norfolk, Anton Lesser as Thomas More, Mark Gatiss as Cromwell’s rival advisor Stephen Gardiner, Joanne Whalley as Henry’s spurned first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, the powerful Lord Chancellor who recognized Cromwell’s potential. Also appearing are Mathieu Amalric as the Spanish ambassador Eustace Chapuys, Charity Wakefield as Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary, Richard Dillane as the king’s brother-in-law the Duke of Suffolk, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Cromwell’s ward Rafe Sadler, Natasha Little as Cromwell’s wife, Liz, and Saskia Reeves as her sister Johane.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: Sunday, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV - Having failed to secure the annulment of the King Henry's marriage to Katherine of Aragon, Cardinal Wolsey is stripped of his powers. His hopes of returning to the king's favor lie with the ever-loyal Thomas Cromwell.
Episode 2 airs Sunday, April 12 at 10 p.m. - Cardinal Wolsey has been forced to move to York. Cromwell remains in London, seeking to return the cardinal to the king’s favor. As Cromwell’s relationship with Henry deepens, there is unexpected news from the north.
Episode 3 airs Sunday, April 19 at 10 p.m. - With the cardinal dead, it falls to Cromwell to orchestrate a marriage between the king and Anne Boleyn. The king rewards Cromwell for his loyalty, but he is being closely watched by his enemies.
Episode 4 airs Sunday, April 26 at 10 p.m. - Anne gives birth to a baby girl, failing to produce Henry’s longed-for male heir. Cromwell demands the nobility and church swear an oath acknowledging Anne as lawful queen, but will Thomas More agree?
Episode 5 airs Sunday, May 3 at 10 p.m. - With Anne pregnant again and away from court, Henry begins to take notice of Jane Seymour. Anne hears of this and threatens Cromwell to make terms with her before her son is born. But has she overplayed her cards?
Episode 6 airs Sunday, May 10 at 10 p.m. - Henry’s love for Anne Boleyn has given way to anger and distrust. Henry instructs Cromwell to rid him of his second queen. Sensing her loss of favor, the queen’s enemies gather.
WATCH ON YOUR SCHEDULE: WOLF HALL is available to stream with KPBS Passport, a benefit for members ($60 yearly) using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn more and activate your benefit now.
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CREDITS: A Playground Entertainment and Company Pictures production for BBC and MASTERPIECE in association with BBC Worldwide, Altus Media and Prescience. Executive producers are John Yorke for Company Pictures, Polly Hill, BBC Head of Independent Drama, for BBC TWO, Rebecca Eaton for MASTERPIECE, Martin Rakusen and Ben Donald for BBC Worldwide and Tim Smith for Prescience. Executive Producer is Colin Callender. Producer is Mark Pybus. The writer is Peter Straughan. The director is Peter Kosminsky. MASTERPIECE is presented on PBS by WGBH Boston. Rebecca Eaton is Executive Producer.
