The iconic BBC drama series Wolf Hall is likely to return to our screens in the near future, after nearly a decade away.
The 2015 six-part narrative, which had a peak TV viewership of more than five million viewers at the time, is based on Hilary Mantel’s first two Wolf Hall books.
Wolf Hall was based on the lives and experiences of controversial historical statesman and barrister Thomas Cromwell, who lived from 1485 to 1540.
With one more novel, The Mirror and the Light, yet to be adapted for the big screen (due out in 2020), fans were looking for a huge comeback.
They’ve now gotten their wish, as many prominent actors, including Sir Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, and Johnathan Pryce, have returned to the action.
Mantel received the Booker Prize in 2009 for her novel Wolf Hall, and again in 2012 for its sequel, Bring Up The Bodies; she died in September 2022, at the age of 70.
Sir Mark received a Bafta for his performance as Cromwell, who became a significant figure throughout the Tudor period and Henry VIII’s reign.
Peter Kosminsky will also return as director, and he has assured that the future episodes, which will begin filming soon, will remain loyal to Mantel’s vision.
‘The Mirror and the Light picks up exactly where Wolf Hall ended, with the execution of Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn.’
Peter continued: ‘I’m overjoyed to be able to reunite the extraordinary cast we were lucky enough to assemble for Wolf Hall.’
‘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.’
The number of episodes in the new series is unknown, but the third novel is about 900 pages long, which is double the length of the second novel.
The finished novel gained widespread praise and earned Mantel the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, which she had previously won for Wolf Hall.
Watch Wolf Hall on BBC iPlayer.
