MARCH/APRIL 2025
Grab your quill and ink to make note — the longawaited Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light returns to MASTERPIECE on Sunday nights, beginning on March 23. Based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prizewinning trilogy, the sequel picks up in May 1536 after the beheading of Anne Boleyn. It then 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. Viewers will follow Cromwell’s continued climb to power and wealth, as the formidable Henry VIII settles in 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. 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?
The Mirror and the Light reunites Damian Lewis as Henry VIII and Mark Rylance as the complex royal power broker Thomas Cromwell who defied and defined his age. Other familiar faces join the cast including Kate Phillips (Miss Scarlet ) as Jane Seymour, Jonathan Pryce (The Crown ) as Cardinal Wolsey, Harriet Walter (Downton Abbey ) as Lady Margaret Pole, and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter films) as the Duke of Norfolk. With the first series of Wolf Hall garnering Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Peabody awards, viewers should expect to find the same commitment to great storytelling, acting excellence, gorgeous costuming, and majestic historic locations. Hilary Mantel’s trilogy provided rich material that inspired and informed the MASTERPIECE series. The novels have been translated into 41 languages and have sold more than five million copies worldwide, earning Mantel both critical acclaim and commercial success. Airs Sunday, March 23 at 9 p.m. on VPM PBS.
VPM.org