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- Mar 9, 2007
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Partner and I have begun to re-watch the BBC dramatisation of Wolf Hall (2015), in preparation for the 3rd part of the trilogy, to be broadcast (we believe!) in December. So last night we watched episode 3, Anna Regina. I say "we" but I've discovered that if you feed partner, then place him on a sofa and put the telly on, he promptly falls asleep. View attachment 126251
Wolf Hall was a grwat series, but I feel that Cromwell was portrayed in far too lenient a light. He was a brutal, relentless 'fixer' rather than the version we see in Hilary Mantell's novels.
I feel that Mark Rylance has a character and physique much closer to Thomas Moore. Damian Lewis as Henry is also not at all how I imagine the king to look based on contemporary accounts and paintings of him. Keith Michell will (for me) always be the standard against which future Henrys will stand (and likely fail). I also though that Donald Pleasance made for a good Cromwell.
Having said all of that, if you view the Wolf Hall series through the eyes of Cromwell, he would no doubt see himself as the symapethic character portrayed by Rylance. And as far as historical drama goes today, it is as good as anything else out there.
For anyone interested in Tudor historical drama tv series, I would strongly recommend the three BBC dramas of the 1970s The Shadow of the Tower (Henry VII), Henry VIII and his Six Wives and Elizabeth R. All outstanding tv drama, especially the Henry III series.