Wolf Hall - Season 2 - The Mirror & the Light

There is the chilling comment his son Gregory makes, when Cromwell looks at his portrait, painted by Holbein.

Cromwell says, 'I fear Mark was right (Mark Smeaton). I once heard him say I looked like a murderer.'

Gregory says, 'Did you not know?'

I always thought Gregory needed a clip round the ear!

Do I need to watch the first series of Wolf Hall before I see the Mirror and the Light?

If you haven’t read the books, Gingster, it would help you to get the essence of all the characters, what drove Cromwell himself and what ultimately led to his demise. It’s a wonderful production.

Years ago I went to see Hilary Mantel at a literary festival and she read us the last page of The Mirror And The Light, we were all mesmerised! She said she hadn't written the book yet (it took years, as we know), but that she'd always known what that last page would be.

I cried at the ending. Very poignant. Even though we all know what would happen to Cromwell it was still sad.

I was so looking forward to watching it but I see the cast is very diverse, this is not fiction, which I find distracting as thanks to Holbein we know what they looked like and Thomas Wyatt is from Kent. The first book was brilliantly done and I have watched a few times, candlelight just right although I remember complaints at the time.

As Rafe Sadler in the BBC’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. ◀️

We’ve met to discuss a rare occasion on which he has revisited a role: in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the BBC’s follow-up to its lavish and immaculate 2015 adaptation of the late Dame Hilary Mantel’s historical trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell.

The first series, six lauded episodes in which director Peter Kosminsky and screenwriter Peter Straughan somehow managed to cover the events of the first two Booker Prize-winning volumes in Mantel’s saga, ended with the execution of Anne Boleyn. This starts just afterwards.

‘We pick up literally 24 hours after season one, but we’ve all aged 10 years, which is funny,’ Brodie-Sangster says. Well, all the others have aged 10 years. He returns as Rafe Sadler, the protégé of Sir Mark Rylance’s Cromwell and, in this series, counsel to Damian Lewis’s volatile and babyish King Henry  VIII.

‘We knew we were making something really quite special,’ he says of the first series. This time felt like ‘a sort of family reunion – we had the same props department, the same costume department, same camera operators, same locations… And pretty much the same cast.’

A notable absentee was Tom Holland, who played the small role of Cromwell’s son Gregory in the first series. For what Brodie-Sangster calls ‘obvious reasons’, by which he means ‘becoming an A-list megastar in the intervening period’, Spider-Man couldn’t make it. ‘I think he probably would have liked to. We had good fun. We felt like “Cromwell’s boys”.’

There was an unspoken obligation to get it right, not least because Mantel died in 2022, a year before production started on the new series. ‘For history’s sake, for everyone’s sake who put in all the time and effort, and for Hilary’s sake,’ he says. ‘Of course, the saddest thing is that she won’t be able to watch it.’

(Taken from an article in the Telegraph today)

luluaugust

I was so looking forward to watching it but I see the cast is very diverse, this is not fiction, which I find distracting as thanks to Holbein we know what they looked like and Thomas Wyatt is from Kent. The first book was brilliantly done and I have watched a few times, candlelight just right although I remember complaints at the time.

These may be “real”people ie historical characters, but it IS still fiction.
Even Holbein’s famous portrait is recognised as stylised - the equivalent in its day of “photoshopping”, heavily flattering and symbolic.
We don’t actually know what anybody looked like, portraits at that period were highly stylised, particularly of the “great and the good”. Remember how Oliver Cromwell wanted to be portrayed “warts and all” ?
We don’t know what was said, either, records of the time are biased by who wrote them and who they were intended for - as well as frequently impenetrable language.
Hilary Mantel wrote three great and memorable novels - as long as the series remains true to them, the directors and cast will have achieved their aim.

Spot on Maw.

Yes I suppose if Hilary Mantel was happy then that is what matters. The flattery shows how times change they all look like dangerous thugs to me ☹️

Beginning tomorrow on BBC i player.

Been looking forward to this for a long time. I have researchedvery deeply into the costume and portraiture of the Tudor period. One of my dissertations for Uni was on the portraits of Elizabeth I. Cromwell is a fascinating character.

Loved the novels and have read all three book. As long as it stays true to the original work , I shall be happy. Will probably binge watch if I can .

Sara1954

I don’t need much of an excuse to watch Wolf Hall again, does anyone know when The Mirror and the Light is due to be aired?

I think it's tomorrow 10th November ??

Can't wait.
😊😊

Yup 10pm to 11pm BBC1 10th November tomorrow

Gingster

Do I need to watch the first series of Wolf Hall before I see the Mirror and the Light?

I would most definitely watch the earlier productions if you haven't read the books. Unless you already understand the period very well anyway. There are so many political, personal, family and religious shenanigans going on that it helps if you understand exactly who is who and how they got to be who they are.

I've watched them all twice before and I'll watch them again just before watching this. There is so little on TV that I am interested in these days that this alone is worth the TV licence to me 😁

Gosh I didn’t realise it was on that late! Why the late time a lot I wonder? I’ll be hard pressed to stay awake.

Labradora

Yup 10pm to 11pm BBC1 10th November tomorrow

No.
It's on 9pm - 10pm

That’s better!

Episode 1 is already available on BBC iPlayer (and I am halfway through it). Yay!

Sparklefizz

Episode 1 is already available on BBC iPlayer (and I am halfway through it). Yay!

Watched it first thing this morning, while having a cuppa in bed.

What do we think of it?

I loved the books and enjoyed the first television programme very much.
Hilary Mantel spent a considerable period of time studying contemporary literature in the British library and the books feel well researched.

I watched it early pm. Was disappointed that all 6 episodes are not available to watch now on i-player. I will watch it again later.

Loved tonight's episode, I am so going to enjoy this, something to look forward to. Mark Rylance is brilliant, as always.