It's been ten years since Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance popped up as Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell, respectively, in the historical drama Wolf Hall, which aired on PBS in the states and BBC Two across the pond. And tonight, the eagerly awaited follow-up Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will premiere on PBS MASTERPIECE Sundays to catch you up on all of the period-piece drama that's been going down in the Tudor court.
To catch you up — it has been a decade, after all — the Peabody- and Golden Globe-winning Wolf Hall miniseries is the TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall novels, with the second season bringing the events of the final book of the trilogy, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, to the screen. The six-part first series documented the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell (Rylance) in the court of Henry VIII (Lewis), with the lawyer becoming a close adviser to the king as he worked to free the royal of his marriage to Anne Boleyn (played by The Crown star Claire Foy).
"The TV sequel picks up in May 1536 after the beheading of Anne Boleyn and follows the last four years of Thomas Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared and influential figure of his time. These are years when Henry’s regime is severely tested by religious rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion," per PBS. "Cromwell must deftly navigate the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this bloody time; he’s caught between his desire to do what’s right and his instinct to survive. The question is: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s brutally mercurial gaze?"
Joining Oscar winner Mark Rylance and Emmy winners Damian Lewis and Claire Foy in the Wolf Hall season 2 cast are Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Kate Phillips as Henry’s third wife Jane Seymour, Lilit Lesser as Henry's daughter Princess Mary, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler, Joss Porter as Richard Cromwell, James Larkin as Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam, Richard Dillane as the Duke of Suffolk, Will Keen as Archbishop Cranmer, and Hannah Steele as Mary Shelton. And new to the cast this time around are Alex Jennings, Harriet Walter and Timothy Spall.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will air on MASTERPIECE Sunday nights on PBS at 9pm Eastern Time from tonight, March 23 through April 20. To tune in, you're going to need access to PBS. You can tune into your local PBS station through a traditional pay-TV provider or, if you've cut the cord, via a live TV streaming service (i.e. Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV) and specific channels on streaming services, like the PBS channel on Prime Video. PBS.org website and the PBS app are also options for tuning into PBS programming and are handily free for all.
Check out a teaser of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light before tuning into the sequel's premiere tonight on PBS.
