The BBC has announced further casting for the second and last instalment of its hit series Wolf Hall.
The show, which is currently filming, will see Harriet Walter (Killing Eve, Succession) assume the role of Lady Margaret Pole, while Timothy Spall will play the Duke of Norfolk. Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack, The Fifth Estate) joins as Lady Jane Rochford, alongside Charlie Rowe (Rocketman, Vanity Fair) as Thomas Cromwell's only son, Gregory, and Harry Melling (Harry Potter, The Queen’s Gambit) as the skilled but shifty Thomas Wriothesley.
They will join Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis and Jonathan Pryce, who will be reprising their roles as Cromwell, advisor to the King, Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey respectively. Also returning will be Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Joss Porter as Cromwell's nephew Richard, James Larkin as Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam, and Will Keen (His Dark Materials) as Archbishop Cranmer. Kate Philips returns as Jane Seymour, and Henry's remaining wives, Catherine Howard and Anne of Cleves will be played by Summer Richards and Dana Herfurth respectively.
The final series will be based on The Mirror and the Light, the last novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning series about the life of Cromwell.
The author’s first two books, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, were adapted into a BBC series in 2015 and followed Cromwell's rise to power amid the complex, shifting politics of the Elizabethan court under Henry VIII. When it aired, it won near-unanimous praise for its script, acting and direction under Peter Kosminsky, who has returned for season two.
“Casting Director Robert Sterne has done a truly extraordinary job assembling the most stunning cast with which I've ever had the privilege to work,” Kosminsky said as the news was announced.
“Led by Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, they’ve been drawn by the quality of Hilary Mantel's writing and Peter Straughan's adroit adaptation. Shooting in Tudor locations all over England and Wales, it is our privilege to bring Hilary's last novel to an international television audience.”
The new series will be six episodes long. As with The Mirror and the Light, the story will trace the last four years of Cromwell’s life, before it is cut short at the end of an executioner’s axe – beginning in May 1536, after the beheading of Anne Boleyn. As the nation reels from the bloody conclusion of her story, Thomas Cromwell continues his climb upwards, amassing power and wealth while Henry marries his next wife, Jane Seymour.
“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 series logline says.
“The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?”
The series will air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, with further details to be announced.
