Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light — plot, cast, images and more about BBC1 sequel
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Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light, which is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning historical trilogy, is rumoured to be hitting our screens later this year.
The creative team behind 2015's BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning first series will be reunited for the six-part tale, which tells the story of the final four years of Thomas Cromwell's life at the court of Henry VIII.
The Mirror and the Light had been in the planning stage when Mantel - who'd been a consultant in the series - passed away at the age of 70, in September 2022.
Yet screenwriter Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank) and director Peter Kosminsky (The Undeclared War, The State) both hope the sequel will be a fitting tribute to the two-time Booker Prize winning author's memory.
“The Mirror and the Light picks up exactly where Wolf Hall ended, with the execution of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn," says Kosminsky in an official statement.
"I'm overjoyed to be able to reunite the extraordinary cast we were lucky enough to assemble for Wolf Hall, led by the brilliant Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, with the original creative team of Gavin Finney (DOP), Pat Campbell (Designer) and Joanna Eatwell (Costume Designer). We are all determined to complete what we started – and to honour the final novel written by one of the greatest literary figures of our age, Hilary Mantel.”
Here's everything we know about Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light...
Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light release date
Filming "across the UK" began in late 2023 and there are rumours of a Christmas 2024 release date. Once we have something confirmed by the BBC, we'll be sure to let you know.
The series will be available on BBC1 and the BBC iPlayer in the UK. It will be broadcast on PBS Masterpiece in the US.
Wolf Hall series one is available to watch on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel in the US
Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light plot
Wolf Hall, which was based on the first two novels of Mantel's Tudor trilogy, 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up the Bodies', painted a vivid picture of court life during the 16th century and followed lawyer Thomas Cromwell as he rose to become one of Henry VIII's most trusted advisors.
A former protege to Cardinal Wolsey, Cromwell earned favor with the King by helping him divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon and arranging his marriage to Anne Boleyn, yet made plenty of enemies on the way.
The six-part series also covered England's split from the Roman Catholic Church and Anne's downfall following her failure to provide the King with an heir.
The Mirror and the Light will cover the period following the death of Anne Boleyn in 1536, Henry's marriage to Jane Seymour and the birth of a long-anticipated son, Prince Edward.
An official BBC synopsis of the new series reads as follows..
"May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, is dead. As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. "Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army. Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe.
"Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows.
"The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze? "Eagerly awaited and years in the making, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time. Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a diplomat and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age."
Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light cast
Mark Rylance won a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall and has confirmed he will be returning to play the central character in this follow-up.
With Anne Boleyn very much dead at the end of Wolf Hall, we're not expecting Claire Foy to make a return, but Damian Lewis (Homeland) will reprise his role as Henry VIII.
Meanwhile Jonathan Pryce (The Crown) will be back as Cardinal Wolsey, Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders) will return as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser will once again play Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
There are also some big names joining the show, with Harriet Walter (Killing Eve, Succession) playing Lady Margaret Pole and Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) taking the role of the Duke of Norfolk.
Stars reprising their roles from the first series include...
Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Maze Runner, 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
Hannah Steele (The Night Manager, Black Mirror) as Mary Shelton.
Mark Gatiss, Jessica Raine and Tom Hollander - who played Stephen Gardiner, Lady Rochford and Gregory Cromwell respectively - won't be returning and have been replaced by other actors.
Other new cast members include...
Alex Jennings (The Crown, This Is Going to Hurt) as Stephen Gardiner
Maisie Richardson-Sellers (The Undeclared War) as Bess Oughtred
Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack, The Fifth Estate) as Lady Jane Rochford
Charlie Rowe (Rocketman, Vanity Fair) as Gregory Cromwell
Harry Melling (Harry Potter, The Queen’s Gambit) as Thomas Wriothesley
Corentin Fila (Being 17, Notre-Dame) as Christophe
Tom Mothersdale (Bodies, Culprits) as Richard Riche
Karim Kadjar, (Leave to Remain, Mike) as Eustache Chapuys
Lucy Russell (A Spy Among Friends, Atlantic Crossing) as Lady Anne Shelton
Will Tudor (Industry, The Ipcress File) as Edward Seymour
Viola Prettejohn (The Crown, The Witcher) as Mary Fitzroy
Thomas Arnold (A Spy Among Friends, War & Peace) as Hans Holbein
Jordan Kouamé (Malpractice, Dope Girls) as Martin The Gaoler
Agnes O’Casey (Lies We Tell, Ridley Road) as Lady Margaret Douglas
Cecilia Appiah (Hijack, The Chelsea Detective) as Nan Seymour
Ellie de Lange (The Serpent, Arcadia) as Jenneke
Hubert Burton (Living, Jekyll and Hyde) as Thomas Howard the Lesser
Pip Carter (Spectre,1917) as Sir Geoffrey Pole
Josef Altin (Top Boy, Game of Thrones) as Thomas Avery
Sarah Priddy (Degenerates, Six Years Gone) as Lady Margery Seymour
Hannah Khalique-Brown (Barbie, The Undeclared War) as Dorothea
Amir El-Masry (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) as Thomas Wyatt
German Segal (The Undeclared War, The Red Ghost) as Olisleger
Summer Richards (Wild Bill, When She Was Good) as Catherine Howard
Dana Herfurth (Love Addicts, One Trillion Dollars) as Anne of Cleves.
Peter Kosminsky on Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light
Peter Kosminsky had known Hilary Mantel for “many, many years,” and had been collaborating on the BBC's adaptation of The Mirror and the Light when she passed away in September 2022.
“Quite apart from my personal sadness, I’ve also lost my main collaborator," hold told Variety. "So now we will have to continue this as a memorial to [Mantel], but also without the advantage of her guidance and advice."
Kosminsky worked closely with Mantel on the adaptation of the writer’s two books, “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies,” which were combined for the single 2015 BBC series “Wolf Hall.”
“As we were putting that show together, I was constantly in touch with her and met her on a number of occasions asking her for advice. She was encyclopedic on the sources, and spent five years researching the subject before putting pen to paper,” he explained.
“So if I needed any detail about a character or an event, or even about details like how they ate or removed their caps with a bow, she was the person to go to. A strong case can be made to say she was the greatest living writer in the English language.”
“The script is largely written but now is exactly the moment we would have gone to Hilary to ask her input and thoughts, and from my POV as a director, I would have sought her advice on certain specifics which would have allowed me to realize her vision."
"Yet this TV adaptation is a secondary concern," he added. "A great light has gone out. The word ‘great’ is used very easily these days but nobody could dispute that it’s an appropriate epithet for Dame Hilary Mantel. If you look at the scale of her achievements, the impact she’s had, the breadth of her knowledge and reading… She’s someone whom people went to for thoughts and opinions on a variety of different novels ad non-fiction works. People recognized her for the massive intellect as she was. It’s hard to imagine a world without her.”
Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror and the Light trailer
There's no trailer for this one yet, but as soon as one lands we'll be sure to post it here.
