Wolf Hall

Having only seen this really from Thomas More's perspective in 'A Man for all Seasons' (a brilliant film) I was intrigued to see it from the 'villain's' point of view which is what Cromwell was in the film. This has been quite an eye opener for me and I am absolutely hooked on the BBC series right now. It got off to a fairly slow start in episode 1 in setting the background for the story but it has just got better and better, the acting from Rylance and Lewis etc is superb and Mark Rylance is not too dissimilar in appearance from Cromwell's actual appearance. Another superb costume drama from the BBC and long may it continue if this is the standard we can expect for future productions.

As a life long Anglophile - with a special passion for the Tudors, I could not wait for this series - after only the first episode, I was not disappointed. Wolf Hall is the story of a (not so well known) Tudor personage Thomas Cromwell - lawyer and confidant of Cardinal Wolsey - who at one time early in Henry VIII's reign was "the most powerful man in England." After Wolsey's decline (none of them stay on top forever), Cromwell worked with King Henry VIII directly.

The fascinating thing about Cromwell is that he was a lowly born commoner, but possesses a quick mind, a sharp tongue and is utterly fearless. Mark Rylance is a great Cromwell - not striking in appearance - quite ordinary in fact, yet possessing the qualities that took him far. Even though after only a short glimpse of Damian Lewis in the first episode, I believe he will be a great Henry (based more on his past performances than anything else.)

Aside from being about one of the most interesting families and time periods in history, Wolf Hall's writing scintillates. These types of dramas are long on dialogue and short on action (so Fast and Furious or Mission Impossible fans - stay away), but the dialogue makes the story.

Some examples:

After Wolsey is disgraced (he failed to secure the annulment of Henry's first marriage to Catherine of Aragon from the Pope), Cromwell goes to Anne Boleyn - who is waiting in the wings as Henry wife #2:

Anne: "we only asked the Cardinal (Wolsey) for one simple thing (meaning the annulment)"

Cromwell: "It wasn't simple"

Anne: . . ."Maybe you think I am simple?"

Cromwell: "You may be, I hardly know you."

In Henry's court, no one talks to the next Queen in line like that.

Later, Cromwell visits Norfolk (who was an avowed enemy of Wolsey):

Cromwell: I hope he (The King) doesn't think still of invading France"

Norfolk: "What Englishman doesn't??" "We own France!!"

later same conversation:

Norfolk: "tell him (Wolsey) if he doesn't (go North) I'll come to him and I will tear him with my teeth!!

Cromwell:"May I substitute the word "bite" for "tear?"

Finally in the next scene Cromwell meets Henry and their subsequent discussion concerning a re-invasion of France shows how snarky and smart assed Cromwell can be - even to the King's face.

It is brilliant.

And of course if you have visited England, the scenery and castles will bring back fond memories of your visit.

The Tudors have been a popular subject of movies for some time (Keith Michell - 1970 Six Wives of Henry VIII; or a pretty complete list at http://tudorhistory.org/movies/), this one promises to be one of the best.

I cannot wait for subsequent episodes. DonB

Peter Straughan condenses Hilary Mantel's award winning historical fiction novels for television. Peter Kominsky gets all the candles he needs for gloomily lit interiors but more importantly gets out great performances from his actors and a wonderful paced drama. There is little here that is stuffy or po faced.

Damian Lewis is a thinner, youthful and more athletic Henry VIII here. Claire Foy (Ann Boleyn) is the chancer who uses her body to enchant Henry when almost everyone is against her. Thomas More is portrayed as a religious zealot here happy to torture and kill in the name of Rome, far removed from 'A man of all seasons.'

Holding everything together is an understated but riveting performance by Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell. A social climber, a fixer, the son of a Putney blacksmith adept in the shadowy world of political intrigue and planning. Cromwell literally lurks in the shadows helped with all that candlelight. Cromwell is loyal too as he is with Cardinal Wolsey even after his fall from grace.

The kernel of the story is familiar although it is easy to forget that this is an adaptation of historical fiction. In short it is not all true.

I don't like giving ratings of 10 out of 10 because it implies that it can't be improved, which is never the case, but when I see drama as well written and well performed as this I want to see ratings that reflect that and respect it, and my 10/10 aims to redress some of the, in my opinion, ludicrous ratings of 1/10 that I see have been posted here. First the imperfections: I'm not sure why Peter Kosminsky, whose work I very much rate, has gone for hand held camera work in what is essentially a static shot. I have no problem with hand-held camera work per se, but the reasons for its use in a wide shot are lost on me, and the result is a slightly irritating amount of camera shake. Secondly, the time shifts could be a little clearer - blink and you miss the captions, and that's if they've actually been included. I think on one occasion the shift was implied rather than signalled. I suppose it does keep the audience on their toes.

But now to its huge strengths. First and foremost, the acting. I've been lucky enough to see Mark Rylance on stage and on television many times over the years and I think he's a force of nature, with everything he turns his hand to innovative and mesmerising, whilst at the same time containing the actor's essential ingredient - truth. That there is always something going on in his head is evident, but what is all the more intriguing is that we can't quite tell what it is . . . The rest of the cast are brilliant too, and the brief scene between Damien Lewis as Henry VIII and Cromwell was a mini delight and leaves me drooling in anticipation of future encounters between these two.

The costumes and locations are as impressive as ever with BBC productions, and will no doubt gather in numerous awards (although one bit of what I imagine was a CGI rendering of a Tudor village in the background didn't quite get there). There have been criticisms about the darkness of the lighting, a result of Kosminsky using lighting by candles (albeit with special cameras). I watched it in HD in a darkened room and I can't say it caused me any problems at all, and in fact I commented on how light and airy some of the daytime scenes were, showing life in the day in the same light - literally - as it would be today, as opposed to the generalised gloom in some depictions of the period.

I thought the pace was well-judged, especially when one acknowledges the difficulties in squeezing Hilary Mantel's immense volumes into six hours of television, and Peter Kosminsky has kept events moving along without being afraid to linger a while on the subtle signals of intrigue that are never far from Mark Rylance's face. The fact that much of Kosminsky's work has been in the political arena is very obvious here, and he gives us a needle-sharp insight into the machinations of that world, indicating that in oh so many ways, things don't change that much. Apart from the costumes, of course.

I can't wait for the rest of the series.

The Tudor period is one of the most fascinating of historical periods, and, when they're done well (and they mostly are, a number brilliantly even), so are filmed or televised historical period dramas.

Of the numerous films, documentaries and mini-series of the Tudor period, 1971's 'Elizabeth R), 1970's 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII', 1966's 'A Man for All Seasons', 1998's Elizabeth, 1971's 'Mary Queen of Scots' and 1935's 'The Private Life of Henry VIII' are particularly great. Also very much enjoy 1969's 'Anne of the Thousand Days', 1986's 'Lady Jane' and David Starkey's late 90s- early 00's documentaries on Henry VIII and Elizabeth, and have heard nothing but good things about 2005's 'Elizabeth I' and 1972's 'The Shadow of the Tower' (both of which are high on my to see list).

'Wolf Hall' appealed to me straightaway with the great talent that it had on board and that the two books that it's based on are very absorbing reads. Some people might take the attitude of "why another drama based on the Tudors when there are so many already?", but few if any have been done from the viewpoint of Thomas Cromwell, one of the most interesting , from what has been written about him and how he has been portrayed on film and TV, figures from this period. 'Wolf Hall' may not be the most original (then again did it ever need to be?) or accurate (being based on two part-historical, part- fiction books based on the period) of Tudor dramas, but on its own it's utterly riveting television. To me, some of the absolute best of 2015, let down only personally by a slightly rushed final episode and an on-the-abrupt- side ending that gave the sense that the series could and should have been an episode longer.

Some people have taken issue with the slow pace, the dim lighting, even the production values, as well as questioning the accuracy and some of the characterisations. None of these were issues with me. From personal view, 'Wolf Hall' is a very well-made series, the scenery, locations and interiors are incredibly lavish and the costumes are well-worn, true to period and lovingly tailored (didn't see any cheapness at all). It is beautifully photographed too, and the candle light and natural daylight added absolutely to the drama's authenticity as that is how it would have been back then. The music score is pleasant and unobtrusive with a good sense of mood.

The quality of the writing in 'Wolf Hall' is superb too. It is very literate, remarkably intelligent and thoughtful with a surprising amount of subtlety that was much appreciated. As well as some understated but witty humour, suspense and palpable poignancy. There is none of the stilted, over-flowery rambling quality that it could have had, and there is similarly none of the subtlety-of-an-axe writing that was present in Tudor dramas like particularly 2003' s 'Henry VIII' and the still enjoyable-if-taken-on-its-own-terms-as- entertainment 'The Tudors'. Reportedly, director Peter Kosminksy was bowled over by the quality of the first draft of Peter Straughan's script-writing, amazed at how he managed to compress two long books into 6 hours worth of television so sensitively (the author of the books Hilary Mantel also called his writing "a miracle of elegant compression"), praise that this viewer too agrees with because it really was one of the most striking things about it. Adaptation- wise, 'Wolf Hall' may be compressed but what is there is faithfully done and it still manages to be coherent. The slow pacing was deliberate and not only was not a problem at all (personally, and for many others too) but necessary, the quiet and sometimes dark tone working beautifully. The first episode may have a slight find- its-feet feel pace wise but gets strong quickly, and there is nothing gratuitous, out of place or heavy-handed-for-the-sake-of- shock-value. In terms of effective scenes, Anne Boleyn's execution was heart-wrenching and chilling and the final scene between Cromwell and Henry is enough to bite the nails.

Kosminsky directs splendidly, and the performances are uniformly of high quality in very well-written complex roles that are, unlike 'The White Queen' (at first) , easy to tell who's who. Particular praise should go to the tour-De-force portrayal of Mark Rylance as Cromwell, more sympathetic and understated than most characterisations of Cromwell (often portrayed as the opposite, though the scheming calculating characteristics are not forgotten just not as obvious as it can be), but Rylance displays the remarkable and also rare gift of doing so much with as little as a glance and very few words, refreshing after sitting through a fair few performances recently where actors struggle to give anywhere near that amount of believability to a page, or even a line, of dialogue. Some of his most effective acting even is when he is reacting to what is being said to him or when he shows stillness amidst chaos.

Damian Lewis also excels and brings multiple dimensions to one of history's most famous (and notorious) monarchs, as do Anton Lesser as a less-than-saintly (one of historians' chief objections apparently) but still fascinatingly complex Thomas More and Bernard Hill's repellent and authoritative Duke of Norfolk. Claire Foy brings a conniving bitchiness and radiant charm to Anne Boleyn, her interpretation is not the most dimensional in the way Genevieve Bujold's performance is but it is still a compelling performance.

All in all, truly riveting stuff and very highly recommended. 2015 was hit and miss for television, and 'Wolf Hall' was up there with the hits. 9/10 Bethany Cox