British acting aristocracy have donned their period costumes to return to a much-loved BBC drama series.
Filming was underway 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 as 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 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 the wedding scene got underway at Wells Cathedral on Thursday
Mark and the rest of the cast were pictured preparing for what appeared to be a wedding scene
The second series, rumored 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 plays the role of Canterbury Cathedral.
Mark and the rest of the cast were pictured preparing for what appeared to be a wedding scene.
Mark wore a fur-lined brown long coat, leather boots and cap when he got into character.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will trace the last four years of Cromwell’s life.
Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall and Harry Melling are among the names joining the cast of the sequel.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s 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 last four years of Cromwell’s life (actress seen on set Thursday)
The first series of the period drama aired in 2015 and also used Wells Cathedral as a filming location
The second series, rumored 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 of assembling the most amazing cast I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.
‘Led by Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, they have been drawn in by the quality of Hilary Mantel’s writing and Peter Straughan’s skillful adaptation.
‘Filming in Tudor locations across England and Wales, it is our privilege to bring Hilary’s final novel to an international television audience.’
A synopsis from the BBC reads: ‘May 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, has died.
‘As the ax falls, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the carnage to continue his rise to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles into short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.
‘Cromwell, a man with only his wits to trust, has no great family to support him, and no private army.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy
Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall and Harry Melling are among the names joining the cast of the sequel
‘As Cromwell navigates the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do the right thing and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry VIII executing his queen, no one is safe.
“Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to the breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future.
‘All England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as the wheel of fortune turns, Cromwell’s enemies gather in the shadows.
‘The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?’
