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*Shardlake*
Shardlake
Genre	Mystery; Crime drama; Period drama
Based on	Shardlake series; by C. J. Sansom
Screenplay by	Stephen Butchard
Directed by	Justin Chadwick
Starring	Arthur Hughes; Sean Bean;
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producers	Lee Mason; George Ormond; Mark Pybus; Stevie Lee;
Producer	John Griffin
Cinematography	Felix Cramer
Production companies	The Forge; Runaway Fridge;
Original release
Network	Disney+
Release	1 May 2024

Shardlake is a four-part television series on Disney+ based on the Shardlake series of historical mystery novels by C. J. Sansom set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. The series is adapted by Stephen Butchard and directed by Justin Chadwick and produced by The Forge. Arthur Hughes stars as the eponymous Matthew Shardlake, alongside Sean Bean as Thomas Cromwell. C. J. Sansom died on 27 April 2024, just four days before the series premiere.^[1]

Synopsis

During the dissolution of the monasteries in the Tudor era, the physically disabled barrister Master Matthew Shardlake is sent by Thomas Cromwell to investigate the death of a commissioner in the remote town of Scarnsea.^[2]

Cast

Arthur Hughes as Matthew Shardlake
- Toby Eden as young Shardlake
Anthony Boyle as Jack Barak
Sean Bean as Thomas Cromwell
Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Alice Fewterer
Joe Barber as Novice Simon Whelplay
Miles Barrow as Brother Gabriel
Babou Ceesay as Abbot Fabian
Peter Firth as Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Paul Kaye as Brother Jerome
Mike Noble as Master Bugge
David Pearse as Brother Edwig
Irfan Shamji as Brother Guy
Matthew Steer as Dr. Goodhap
Brian Vernel as Prior Mortimus
Michael Rivers as Robin Singleton
Ken Nwosu as Snook
Hilary Tones as Old Annie
Kimberley Nixon as Joan
Alex Lowe as Brother Andrew
Tadhg Murphy as Copynger
Alex Bhat as Crowe
Louis Goodwin as Mark Smeaton
Charlotte Christof as Orphan Stonegarden
Roderick Hill as Copper
Anthony Cozens as Jacob Crump
Miltos Yerolemou as Oldknoll
Anthony Aje as Ned Skeels

Production

Background

Author C.J. Sansom granted the rights to his first Matthew Shardlake novel, Dissolution, to producer Stevie Lee in 2003. Lee initially planned to make a film with Kenneth Branagh. In 2007, the BBC optioned the novels, with Branagh still attached. However, they prioritised their production of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Branagh shifted focus to Wallander instead. Later discussions with ITV did not materialise into a production.^[3]

In January 2023 it was announced that Disney+ had greenlit an adaptation of the Shardlake novels to be produced by The Forge, part of Banijay.^[4] The series consists of four episodes, that are directed by Justin Chadwick from a script written by Stephen Butchard. John Griffin is producing the series, with executive producers George Ormond and Mark Pybus for The Forge, Stevie Lee for Runaway Fridge, and Lee Mason for Disney+.^[5]^[6]

Casting

Arthur Hughes was confirmed in the role of Shardlake.^[7] Sean Bean was confirmed in the role of Thomas Cromwell.^[8] In February 2024 Irfan Shamji, David Pearse, Miles Barrow, Mike Noble and Kimberley Nixon were confirmed in the cast.^[9] The cast also includes Babou Ceesay, Paul Kaye, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Peter Firth, Matthew Steer, Brian Vernel,^[10] and Joe Barber.^[11]

Filming

By March 2023 principal photography had begun with filming locations including Hungary, Romania and Austria.^[12] For the monastery, they used Hunedoara Castle, in Transylvania, and Kreuzenstein Castle, outside Vienna.^[3]

Broadcast

The series was available on Disney+ from 1 May 2024.^[13]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 79% approval rating with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on 19 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Well acted if a bit unconvincing in its verisimilitude, Shardlake's fast pace keeps it from feeling like a dry tutoring lesson on Tudors intrigue."^[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[15]

Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph called it a "solid, intelligent offering" and that Hughes "imbues Shardlake with a sense of fairness and decency without making him too much of a goody-two-shoes".^[16] Joel Golby in The Guardian wrote that "Hughes is superb" and that his "Holmes-Watson dynamic with Boyle's rogueish Jack Barak is very enjoyable".^[17] Vicky Jessop in The Evening Standard described it as "a tightly plotted, gorgeously atmospheric piece of television".^[18]