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Picking up in May 1536, Cromwell continues his climb to power in “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” on MASTERPIECE – March 23 at 9pm

Posted on: Monday, March 17, 2025

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MASTERPIECE
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light”

Starting Sunday, March 23 at 9:oo pm

Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis Reprise Roles in Hilary Mantel’s Tale of Thomas Cromwell’s Thrilling Final Act

MASTERPIECE PBS and the BBC have announced that Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning
trilogy, will begin airing in March 2025.

Reuniting the creative team from the BAFTA and Golden Globe® winning first series, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will be directed by seven-time BAFTA award winner Peter Kosminsky (The Undeclared War, The State), adapted for television by Academy Award® nominee Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank) and produced by Playground (All Creatures Great and Small, The Undeclared War) and Company Pictures (Van Der Valk, Blood).

Academy Award® winner Mark Rylance will return to his BAFTA-winning role of Thomas Cromwell, with Emmy® Award winner Damian Lewis returning as King Henry VIII, alongside Academy Award® nominee Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey. Also returning are Kate Phillips as Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour and Lilit Lesser as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.

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.

Director Peter Kosminsky says: “The Mirror and the Light picks up exactly where Wolf Hall ended, with the execution of Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. 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 honor the final novel written by one of the greatest literary figures of our age, Hilary Mantel.”