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Damian Lewis Spotted Enjoying a Pint While On Break From Filming Wolf Hall

A Royal Toast

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com  | January 16, 2024

Damian was spotted enjoying a pint with co-star Thomas Brodie-Sangster at The New Inn in West Coker, South Somerset last week while on break from filming Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light nearby.

The BBC drama recently returned to Montacute House, which has been closed to the public from Tuesday, January 2 through Friday, January 19, 2024 to allow camera crews to prepare some scenes for filming.  The 16th-century Elizabethan mansion and gardens is near Yeovil, which are owned by the National Trust. Motacute House is used to represent Greenwich Palace and its grand exterior makes for an stunning background for the drama’s key scenes. Both Damian (playing Henry VIII) and Thomas (playing Rafe Sadler) have been spotted at the stunning National Trust property as filming nears completion.

Source: Somerset Live

Categories Print Media Wolf Hall

‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’ Casting News

Casting Announcement

by Staff | PBS.org  | December 4, 2023

Harriet Walter and Timothy Spall

Masterpiece PBS and the BBC have announced the remaining casting for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy. As previously announced, Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Jonathan Pryce, Kate Phillips and Lilit Lesser will all return for the six-part series, now filming across England and Wales.

Announced today, Harriet Walter (Killing Eve, Succession) joins the cast to play Lady Margaret Pole, with Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, Spencer) as the Duke of Norfolk.

Continue reading ‘Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light’ Casting News

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‘Wolf Hall’ Sequel With Damian Lewis, Mark Rylance Sets Production Start for PBS, BBC

The Final Novel in Hilary Mantel’s Historical Trilogy

by Rick Porter | Hollywood Reporter | November 20, 2023

UPDATE 11/27/23: According to the Daily Mail, some initial filming took place Saturday, November 25, 2023 in Bristol. Filming on location photos can be viewed in our Gallery here.

After eight years, PBS is making a return to Wolf Hall. The public broadcaster will air a sequel to its Emmy-nominated miniseries, with Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis reprising their roles as Thomas Cromwell and English King Henry VIII. The series, based on the final book in author Hilary Mantel‘s trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, is scheduled to begin production soon. It will air under PBS’ Masterpiece banner in the United States and on the BBC in the U.K. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light currently has no release date.

The new season follows Thomas Cromwell as he navigates the aftermath of Anne Boleyn’s execution, facing moral dilemmas and multiple enemies. Cromwell somehow manages to escape the bloodshed unscathed. Although he can continue amassing power and influence, the whole display assures that nobody is truly safe in the King’s court. Cromwell is in particular trouble with no powerful family behind him and only the wits that got him there. The season will follow the moral dilemmas he faces as he tries to keep his head on his shoulders while still trying to do the right thing and steer England toward the future. Unfortunately for him, things are even more complicated than that with rebellion within the country’s borders, traitors abroad, and an invasion on the horizon. All the while, Cromwell’s fortunes are running out as he’s earned no small number of enemies who wish to see his demise.

Continue reading ‘Wolf Hall’ Sequel With Damian Lewis, Mark Rylance Sets Production Start for PBS, BBC

Categories Poll Print Media Wolf Hall

The 20 Best TV Shows Based on Books

Wolf Hall: A Marvel of Elegance and Emotion

by Staff | TVLine | March 30, 2023

What do these titles all have in common other than being highly-rated, successful shows? They and many more shows were adapted from bestselling novels within the last decade. Whether you love them or hate them, book-to-TV adaptations are here to stay. The TVLine team felt it was perfect to conjure up a list of the top TV programs based on books. We have rounded up 20 of the best shows from the last decade that were adapted from books:

Continue reading The 20 Best TV Shows Based on Books

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In Loving Memory of Dame Hilary Mantel

Beloved Author

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | September 23, 2022

We join readers around the world in mourning the loss of Author, Dame Hilary Mantel. We are grateful for her magnificent body of work and the award-winning historical fiction novels including, but not limited to, Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light. Without her words, her vision, Damian’s portrayal of Henry VIII would not be a critical hit as the regal King.

Damian shared this tribute:

Continue reading In Loving Memory of Dame Hilary Mantel

Categories Print Media Wolf Hall

Underrated British TV Shows You Need To Watch

Wolf Hall

by Richard Chachowski | Looper | July 20, 2022

On the surface, one might immediately think that British television is very similar to any American TV program you can find on cable or currently streaming. However, as anyone who’s seen a decent amount of British and American series can tell you, the two couldn’t be further apart.

Known for their strong surrealistic elements, dry wit, and dramatically small number of episodes compared to American TV series, British TV shows are practically a genre unto themselves. Whether they encompass historical dramas, absurdist comedies, or sitcoms set in World War II, you know without question when you’re tuning into a TV show from across the pond, judging from its sense of humor and content alone.

Continue reading Underrated British TV Shows You Need To Watch

Categories Fashion and Style Print Media Wolf Hall

Bulging Codpieces and Multi-Colored Tights

Renaissance Men’s Fashion Today

by Maria H. Loh | Art News | June 29, 2022

Certain men’s fashions have always been controversial. In 2014, Mark Rylance, a star of the BBC’s popular sixteenth-century TV drama Wolf Hall, told reporters that he thought “the codpieces are too small.” The actor, who played chief minister Thomas Cromwell, protagonist of the Hilary Mantel best seller on which the series was based, speculated that the sartorial edit was perhaps a directive from the show’s American producers, who feared that historically accurate codpieces might shock their transatlantic viewers. Indeed, if you look at any number of Renaissance portraits of Henry VIII, you might be immediately taken aback by the elaborate mound of shimmering white silk that bursts forth and rises up conspicuously between the king’s legs. Damian Lewis, who had the monarch’s role in the show, explained to the Los Angeles Times that these unusual attachments were,

“… a symbol of your virility, your derring-do, your sense of adventure. They were encouraged, it was a fashion, and Henry liked them.”

Continue reading Bulging Codpieces and Multi-Colored Tights

Categories Print Media Wolf Hall

5 Tempting Tudor Dramas to Watch Right Now

Wolf Hall: Happy Birthday Henry VIII

by Katy Kostakis | Paste Magazine | June 29, 2022

Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived. Gloriana. The Virgin Queen. Bloody Mary.

Just reading those words can instantly bring your mind to one of the most famous, scandalous, and formidable families to ever rule a nation. The powerful Tudor dynasty has long mesmerized and enthralled all who have come across their stories during history lessons. From the king who nabbed his crown against the odds to a long-awaited male heir who didn’t live past the age of 15, to the queen who defied all expectations and ruled for 45 years, their collective reign over England from 1485 to 1603 was chock full of warfare, religious reform, and treachery at a time where fealty, obedience, and adhering to the tenets of one’s social station literally meant life or death.

Continue reading 5 Tempting Tudor Dramas to Watch Right Now

Categories Print Media Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel Hopeful Damian and Mark Rylance Will Return to Their Wolf Hall Roles

Henry and Cromwell

by Rebecca Jones | BBC News | May 20, 2021

Dame Hilary, 68, is a shrewd observer of political drama that spans the ages. “I think what my books have tried to show is that there is no life without politics,” she says.

She has been immersed in Tudor politics for more than 15 years, working on her Wolf Hall trilogy of historical novels about the plots and intrigues at the court of King Henry VIII and the rise and fall of his chief adviser Thomas Cromwell.

Dame Hilary has spent the past year writing the play of The Mirror and the Light herself. She says she wanted to “give it a go”.

But, perhaps surprisingly for a writer of 14 works of fiction and a memoir, she was not sure she could do it on her own.

“Although I’d written plays for radio… I’ve not written a whole stage play by myself. I felt my inexperience,” she admits. “I thought, ‘I need a collaborator.'”

Ben Miles, who starred as Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Wolf Hall and its sequel Bring up the Bodies, suggested himself as “co-pilot” on the project.

The television adaptation of The Mirror and the Light is on its way too. “It is going ahead. It’s being written now, but delayed by Covid like everything else,” she says.

It is therefore unlikely to be on our screens before 2023. “It’s just a question of patience.” The previous BBC TV adaptation of the first two books – which was entitled Wolf Hall but brought together Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies – won two Bafta TV awards, and a Golden Globe.

She says she “would certainly hope” that Sir Mark Rylance, who played Cromwell in the BBC series and Damian Lewis, who appeared as Henry VIII, will be able to return to their roles, although “these are busy people with big schedules and it will all be a question of timing”.

Continue reading Hilary Mantel Hopeful Damian and Mark Rylance Will Return to Their Wolf Hall Roles

Categories Forsyte Saga Poll Print Media Wolf Hall

PBS Masterpiece Hopeful To Be Involved with BBC’s Wolf Hall – Jan 9, 2021

PBS Wants Damian Back for Wolf Hall

by Peter White | Deadline | January 8, 2021

PBS’ Masterpiece, which has been home to classic British dramas including Downton Abbey, Upstairs, Downstairs, Prime Suspect and the original House of Cards, turns 50 on January 10.

Susanne Simpson, an exec producer on series including Downton Abbey, took over running Masterpiece in November 2019, replacing Rebecca Eaton. She told Deadline that the success of the regal ITV drama, which ran for six seasons and ending in 2015, was a turning point for British dramas in the U.S. and it has now pivoted to ensure that it still has a pipeline of shows.

However, she is hopeful that PBS would be involved in the sequel to BBC’s Wolf Hall. Peter Kosminsky is working on the follow-up to Hilary Mantel’s book series, which published The Mirror and the Light last year, and hopeful of getting the original cast such as Damian Lewis back on board.

Continue reading PBS Masterpiece Hopeful To Be Involved with BBC’s Wolf Hall – Jan 9, 2021

Categories Forsyte Saga Poll Print Media Wolf Hall

Masterpiece (PBS/BBC) Favorites of a More Recent Vintage – Jan 8, 2021

Two for Damian: Wolf Hall and The Forsyte Saga

by Matthew Gilbert | Boston Globe | January 7, 2021

Here are some of my favorite Masterpiece shows, in no particular order. I have restricted the list to those that have aired in the past 25 years, which is why you won’t see the well-known classics, including I, Claudius, The Jewel in the Crown, House of Cards, Elizabeth R, or Prime Suspect.

Wolf Hall (2015)

Based on Hilary Mantel’s Henry VIII novels, the mesmerizing six-parter takes place from the point of view of the King’s most trusted advisor, Thomas Cromwell, played by a quietly sardonic Mark Rylance. This isn’t the bodice-ripping, horse-hopping likes of Showtime’s The Tudors; it’s elegant, downbeat, authentically lit, intensely acted, and clever and relevant when it comes to 16th-century politics. Damian Lewis is Henry, Jonathan Pryce is Cardinal Wolsey, and Claire Foy is Anne Boleyn.

Continue reading Masterpiece (PBS/BBC) Favorites of a More Recent Vintage – Jan 8, 2021

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100 Best Miniseries Of All Time – Aug 17, 2020

Wolf Hall Has It All

by Joni Sweet | Lake Geneva Regional News | August 17, 2020

With shelter-at-home orders still in effect, the pandemic has left us with little more to do than veg out in front of the TV. Data released from Comcast in May showed that the average household watched some 66 hours of television each week—more than an additional full workday’s worth of television than people were watching in March.

But after so many stay-at-home months and the uncertainty of how many more there will be, it might be time for some fresh content to indulge in while noshing on takeout. Enter the miniseries. It might just be the perfect format for quarantine life. Miniseries offer the rich visuals and storytelling of cinema, with the ability to binge-watch a few episodes, like conventional television. Plus, you’ve got decades of compelling miniseries to choose from in just about every genre imaginable.

To help narrow down the choices, Stacker collected IMDb data on all miniseries/limited series on July 29, and ranked them according to their IMDb user rating, ties broken by votes. It also looked at reviews from The New York Times, Rotten Tomatoes, Forbes, NPR, The Guardian, and other media to see what the critics have to say.

It should come as no surprise that BBC’s striking nature documentaries score highly on this list. But scattered throughout the rankings, you’ll discover a mix of historical dramas, shocking true crime documentaries, sci-fi favorites, animated works and shows inspired by comics, and police procedurals that put a new twist on an old-school genre.

From visually-stunning nature documentaries to historical war dramas, here are the top 100 miniseries of all time, according to data from IMDb.

Continue reading 100 Best Miniseries Of All Time – Aug 17, 2020