British acting aristocracy have donned their period costume for the return of a much-loved BBC drama series.
Filming was under way for the sequel to Wolf Hall at Wells Cathedral in Somerset on Thursday.
Dunkirk and Bridge of Spies star Sir Mark Rylance has been confirmed to return to the role of Thomas Cromwell as well as Sir Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.
Kate Phillips is Jane Seymour, Damian Lewis stars as King Henry VIII, and Lilit Lesser as The Lady Mary.
The first series of the period drama aired in 2015 and also used Wells Cathedral as a filming location.
Mark Rylance transformed into Thomas Cromwell to reprise his role in the Wolf Hall sequel as filming for wedding scene got underway at Wells Cathedral on Thursday
Mark and the other cast members were pictured preparing for what looked like a wedding scene
The second series, rumoured to air in late 2024 or early 2025, will be titled Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. It will be a six-part series.
Filming is underway at Wells Cathedral which is playing the role of Canterbury Cathedral.
Mark and the other cast members were pictured preparing for what looked like a wedding scene.
Mark sported a fur-lined brown long coat, leather boots and cap as he got into character.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life.
Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall and Harry Melling are among the names joining the cast for the sequel.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy.
Harriet Walter (Killing Eve, Succession) joins the cast to play Lady Margaret Pole, with Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, Spencer) as the Duke of Norfolk and Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye, The Queen’s Gambit) as Thomas Wriothesley.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the final four years of Cromwell’s life (actress seen on set on Thursday)
The first series of the period drama aired in 2015 and also used Wells Cathedral as a filming location
The second series, rumoured to air in late 2024 or early 2025, will be titled Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. It will be a six-part series
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.
He said: ‘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.
‘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.’
A synopsis from the BBC reads: ‘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.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy
Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall and Harry Melling are among the names joining the cast for the sequel
‘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?’
