The reign of King Henry VIII was a period of high drama, cruel punishments and seismic religious change, making it an irresistible draw for dramatists even 500 years on.
The sequel to BBC2โs blockbuster Tudor drama Wolf Hall is currently in the works and now Disney+ whisks us back to the same era of intrigue and danger with its new series Shardlake.
Based on the series of novels by CJ Sansom the four-part murder mystery blends the real with the imaginary as fictional lawyer-cum-detective Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes) investigates a suspicious death on the orders of Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean), Henryโs real-life right-hand man.
History buff Bean, 65, was lured to the role of Cromwell having already read the books. โIโve always been interested in the medieval and Tudor eras and history in general,โ he explains.
โI read the books 14 years ago, so when this came up I was obviously very interested.
โCromwell is such a great character and held so much power. He was intelligent but cunning, pitting people against each other.
โHe had many facets, so he wasnโt just a bad person โ although heโs not very nice in this. But that was the attraction, thereโs so much to delve into.โ
Above: Arthur Hughes as the sleuth Shardlake, who investigates a suspicious death in the show
Adapted by Stephen Butchard, who also wrote The Last Kingdom, Shardlake is set at the time when Henry has broken from Rome and ordered the closure of Englandโs monasteries.
In the show, Cromwell asks Shardlake to look into the murder of one of the kingโs emissaries whoโd been sent to a monastery in the fictional town of Scarnsea to close it down.
The title role is a star-making part for Arthur Hughes, 31, who appeared in Netflixโs The Innocents and has played Richard III with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now, having landed a leading role in a big-budget drama, heโs blazing a trail for disabled actors.
Itโs the 16th century but the methods of a murder mystery donโt change
Arthur has a condition called radial dysplasia, which affects his right arm, while in the show Shardlake is disabled by scoliosis, a curvature of the spine that results in him being called โhunchbackโ.
โWhen we have a disabled actor in a leading role, itโs huge,โ says Hughes. โI think itโs taking steps towards a point where thereโs not such a big hoo-ha about it.
โAnd thatโs where we want to be, where we just see disabled actors in great roles regardless of whether the roleโs disabled or not.โ
He explains that Shardlake suffers prejudice due to his disability. โIt makes him visibly different and he can suffer because of that, but heโs successful at what he does,โ says Hughes. โThatโs why Cromwell holds him close as a useful asset.โ
Shardlake is joined by Jack Barak (Masters Of The Airโs Anthony Boyle), a Cromwell henchman whose frosty relationship with Shardlake thaws into friendship after the pair face hostility at the monastery.
โCromwell sends Shardlake off to investigate the murder but sends Barak to make sure he does it right,โ says Boyle, 29. โThe guy is very cocky. Theyโre the direct antithesis of each other โ a Tudor odd couple.โ
Above: Sean Bean as Cromwell who tells Matthew Shardlake to investigate a suspicious murder
A strong supporting cast play the monasteryโs inhabitants, with Rogue Oneโs Babou Ceesay as the abbot who appears to be covering up the crime, and The Strangerโs Paul Kaye as the apparently mad Brother Jerome. Spooksโ Peter Firth is Cromwellโs adversary the Duke of Norfolk.
Interestingly, all the showโs atmospheric Tudor backdrops were filmed in central Europe. Locations included Romania, Hungary and Austria, and the monastery was an amalgam of Hunedoara Castle in Transylvania and Kreuzenstein Castle outside Vienna.
But the actors nearly froze on the winter shoot, recalls Hughes. โSome days in Vienna it was -8C. Kreuzenstein Castle was on top of this big hill, and it was biting cold.โ Fortunately during their four months in Budapest the cast bonded over Hungarian dinners of chicken paprikash and palinka, a fruit brandy.
Shardlake, dubbed โThe Tudor Morseโ, is an outsider whoโs whip-smart but also endearing, and although it takes place half a millennium ago, the showโs themes are ageless.
โEven though itโs set in the 16th century the methods and means of a murder mystery havenโt changed that much,โ says Bean. โShardlake will take you on a journey thatโs entertaining as well as historically interesting.โ
- Shardlake, from Wednesday, Disney+.