Wolf Hall (miniseries)


Wolf Hall is a British television serial first broadcast on BBC Two in January 2015. The six-part series is an adaptation of two of Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, a fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More, followed by Cromwell's success in freeing the king of his marriage to Anne Boleyn. Wolf Hall was first broadcast in April 2015 in the United States on PBS and in Australia on BBC First.
The series was a critical success and received eight nominations at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards and three nominations at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, winning for Best Miniseries or Television Film.

Cast

Principal

On 23 August 2012, BBC Two announced several new commissions, one of which was Wolf Hall. According to The Guardian £7 million was to be spent on the adaptation. BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said it was "very fortunate to have the rights" to the two novels and called Wolf Hall "a great contemporary novel".
Peter Kosminsky, the director of the series, said:
This is a first for me. But it is an intensely political piece. It is about the politics of despotism, and how you function around an absolute ruler. I have a sense that Hilary Mantel wanted that immediacy.... When I saw Peter Straughan's script, only a first draft, I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was the best draft I had ever seen. He had managed to distil 1,000 pages of the novels into six hours, using prose so sensitively. He's a theatre writer by trade.

The drama series features 102 characters and Kosminsky began casting the other parts in October 2013. Although originally set to film in Belgium, most of the filming took place on location at some of the finest British medieval and Tudor houses and buildings: Berkeley Castle, Gloucester Cathedral and Horton Court in Gloucestershire, Penshurst Place in Kent, Broughton Castle and Chastleton House in Oxfordshire, Barrington Court, Cothay Manor and Montacute House in Somerset, St Donat's Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, and Great Chalfield Manor and Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. The series was filmed from May to July 2014. The series, which was made in association with Masterpiece Entertainment and Playground Entertainment, consists of six episodes and was broadcast on BBC Two in the UK from 21 January 2015.
The Guardian speculated that the BBC's hiring of Kosminsky with Straughan showed they wanted "a darker and grittier take on British history" than more fanciful programmes such as The Tudors or The White Queen. Mantel called Straughan's scripts a "miracle of elegant compression and I believe with such a strong team the original material can only be enhanced."
Kosminsky's decision to film many of the interior scenes by candlelight led to the actors bumping into things, and fearing they might catch fire.
Wolf Hall was filmed in two locations in Kent: Dover Castle doubled for the Tower of London, and the Long Gallery, Tapestry Room, and Queen Elizabeth Room at Penshurst Place were used as specific rooms in Whitehall, which was Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII's residence. The Long Gallery doubled as Anne Boleyn's chamber. Some scenes were filmed at Stanway House in Gloucestershire.
The series' executive producer, Colin Callender, stated in February 2015 that he hoped that the BBC would commission an extension of the series based on the final novel in Mantel's trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, which was published in 2020. Callender said that lead performers Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis were "eager" to return.
A second series of Wolf Hall was confirmed on 27 May 2019.

Episodes

NumberTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. air dateUK viewers

Reception

Critics have been "almost unanimous" in their praise of the series, with particular reference to the attention to period detail, the faithful adaptation of the source novels, Kosminsky's direction, and the performances of the leading cast members, particularly Rylance as Cromwell and Foy as Boleyn. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a 98% rating based on 41 reviews with an average rating of 8.45/10, the critical consensus being that the series is "beautifully filmed and brilliantly acted." Sam Wollaston in The Guardian called it "sumptuous, intelligent, event television." Will Dean in The Independent felt that it did not compare favourably with the stage adaptation of the book, yet he predicted that it would "secure a devoted following." James Walton in The Daily Telegraph gave the first episode five stars out of five, commenting: "it’s hard to see how this one could have been done much better." Mick Adam Noya from the television review show Channel Crossing called Wolf Hall "the best show of 2015".
A few dissenting voices found some flaws. The Daily Telegraph alleged that there was a substantial drop in ratings between the first and second episode, despite all the following episodes holding high and consistent ratings. Simon Schama stated concerns about how the series depicted historical figures. Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker cited "small weaknesses", but wrote "the show’s deliberately paced six hours turn out to be riveting, precisely because they are committed, without apology or, often, much explanation, to the esotericism of their subject matter."
The lighting design, which utilized historically accurate natural light sources prompted criticism from viewers who felt parts of the series were presented too dark.

International broadcast

For the 5th Critics' Choice Television Awards, the series received four nominations: Best Limited Series, Mark Rylance for Best Actor, Jonathan Pryce for Best Supporting Actor, and Claire Foy for Best Supporting Actress.
AwardCategoryRecipientsOutcome
BAFTA TV AwardsBest Drama SeriesWolf Hall
BAFTA TV AwardsBest ActorMark Rylance
BAFTA TV AwardsBest ActressClaire Foy
BAFTA TV AwardsBest Supporting ActorAnton Lesser
BAFTA TV AwardsBest Editing - FictionDavid Blackmore
BAFTA TV AwardsBest Costume DesignJoanna Eatwell
BAFTA TV AwardsBest Photography and LightingGavin Finney
BAFTA TV AwardsBest Sound - Fiction and EntertainmentRodney Berling, Simon Clark, Peter Gates, James Hayday, and Rob Hughes
Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Limited SeriesWolf Hall
Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Actor in a Movie/MiniseriesMark Rylance
Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Supporting Actor in a Movie/MiniseriesJonathan Pryce
Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Supporting Actress in a Movie/MiniseriesClaire Foy
Golden Globe AwardsBest Miniseries or Television FilmWolf Hall
Golden Globe AwardsBest ActorMark Rylance
Golden Globe AwardsBest Supporting ActorDamian Lewis
2015 Peabody AwardsEntertainmentWolf Hall
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Limited SeriesWolf Hall
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or MovieMark Rylance
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or MovieDamian Lewis
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic SpecialPeter Kosminsky
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic SpecialPeter Straughan
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie, or SpecialNina Gold and Robert Sterne
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or MovieJoanna Eatwell, Ken Lang, and Clare Vyse
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or MovieDavid Blackmore
Satellite AwardsBest Miniseries or Television FilmWolf Hall
Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmMark Rylance
Satellite AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmDamian Lewis
Satellite AwardsBest Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmClaire Foy
Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieMark Rylance
TCA AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and SpecialsWolf Hall