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Nov 03, 2024

Everything We Know Now about Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light

MASTERPIECE on PBS has shared its airdate and a trailer for the eagerly awaited and years-in-the-making historical drama, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. The brand-new TV adaptation continues the

MASTERPIECE on PBS has shared its airdate and a trailer for the eagerly awaited and years-in-the-making historical drama, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. The brand-new TV adaptation continues the spellbinding story of royal power broker Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) during the cruel and capricious reign of Henry VIII (Damian Lewis) and is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy. Learn what history Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light covers, which stars are returning to and joining the cast, when it’s premiering, and see the new preview!

The TV sequel picks up in May 1536 after the beheading of Anne Boleyn and follows the last four years of Thomas Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared and influential figure of his time. These are years when Henry’s regime is severely tested by religious rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion. Cromwell must deftly navigate the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this bloody time; he’s caught between his desire to do what’s right and his instinct to survive. The question is: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s brutally mercurial gaze?

Grab your quill and ink to make note: Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will air on MASTERPIECE Sunday nights from March 23 to April 20, 2025 at 9/8c. You will also be able to stream full episodes online, with the PBS App and by accessing PBS Passport as a station member.

Academy Award® winner Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, Ready Player One, Dunkirk) returns to his celebrated role as Thomas Cromwell, a performance TIME called “spectacular” and which earned him the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award. Emmy® Award winner Damian Lewis (Billions, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Homeland) is also back as King Henry VIII, alongside Academy Award® nominee Jonathan Pryce (Slow Horses, The Two Popes, The Wife) as Cardinal Wolsey, and Kate Phillips (Miss Scarlet and The Duke, Peaky Blinders) as Henry’s third wife Jane Seymour. Also reprising their roles from Wolf Hall series one are Lilit Lesser (Passing Through, To Nowhere) as Princess Mary, daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Queen’s Gambit, Love Actually) as Rafe Sadler, Joss Porter (The Undeclared War, Humans) as Richard Cromwell, James Larkin (Black Mirror, McMafia) as Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam, Richard Dillane (Argo, Pennyworth) as the Duke of Suffolk, Will Keen (Operation Mincemeat, His Dark Materials) as Archbishop Cranmer, and Hannah Steele (The Night Manager, Black Mirror) as Mary Shelton.

Joining the sequel’s cast are Alex Jennings (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Victoria, The Crown) to play Stephen Gardiner, Harriet Walter (Succession, Killing Eve) as Lady Margaret Pole, with Timothy Spall (Wicked Little Letters, Harry Potter films, Spencer) as the Duke of Norfolk, among others.

The original Wolf Hall miniseries is based on Hilary Mantel’s novel by the same name and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. This first installment covers the years between roughly 1529 and 1536, focusing on Thomas Cromwell’s (Mark Rylance) rise to power in the court of Henry VIII (Damian Lewis), including his key role in the downfall of Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy). Wolf Hall first aired on MASTERPIECE in 2015 and earned both the Peabody Award and Golden Globe for Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. “Wolf Hall is about as compellingly and meticulously crafted as television gets,” said The Washington Post.

MASTERPIECE is rebroadcasting Wolf Hall on Sunday nights from October 27 to November 24th at 10/9c. You may also stream all six episodes of Wolf Hall at any time when you watch with PBS Passport.

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