Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was accused by Henry of adultery after failing to produce the male heir he so desperately desired. Jane, however, died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, the future King Edward VI. She was the only wife of Henry to receive a queen's funeral; and he was later buried alongside her remains in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG was an English peer, secretary of state, Lord Chancellor and Lord High Admiral. A naturally skilled but unscrupulous and devious politician who changed with the times, Wriothesley served as a loyal instrument of King Henry VIII in the latter's break with the Catholic Church. Richly rewarded with royal gains from the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he nevertheless prosecuted Calvinists and other Protestants when political winds changed.
Benjamin Charles Miles is an English actor, best known for his starring role as Patrick Maitland in the television comedy Coupling, from 2000 to 2004, as Montague Dartie in The Forsyte Saga, from 2002 to 2003, as propagandist and television executive Roger Dascombe in 2005 film V for Vendetta, as Peter Townsend in the Netflix drama The Crown (2016–2017) and George in episode 8 "The One That Holds Everything" in the TV drama The Romanoffs (2018).
Nathaniel Parker is an English stage and screen actor best known for playing the lead in the BBC crime drama series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, and Agravaine de Bois in the fourth series of Merlin.
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, Every Day Is Mother's Day, was released in 1985. She went on to write 12 novels, two collections of short stories, a memoir, and numerous articles and opinion pieces.
Mike Poulton is an English writer, translator and adapter of classic plays for contemporary audiences. He received a Tony nomination for his play 'Fortune's Fool' along with his adaptations of 'Wolf Hall' and 'Bring Up the Bodies'.
Henry VIII and his reign have frequently been depicted in art, film, literature, music, opera, plays, and television.
Mary I of England has been depicted in popular culture a number of times.
Lydia Leonard is a British actress. She starred in the stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies. On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC Two sitcom Quacks (2017) and the Amazon Prime series Ten Percent (2022). She also appeared in The Crown (2022–2023) on Netflix.
Wolf Hall is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. The novel won both the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director. He is a Founding Director of Second Half Productions with Alan Stacey and Rob O’Rahilly. He was previously Artistic Director of the British touring theatre company; Headlong.
Bring Up the Bodies is an historical novel by Hilary Mantel, sequel to the award-winning Wolf Hall (2009), and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII. It won the 2012 Man Booker Prize and the 2012 Costa Book of the Year. The final novel in the trilogy is The Mirror & the Light (2020).
The Mirror & the Light is a 2020 historical novel by English writer Hilary Mantel and the final novel published in her lifetime, appearing two and a half years before her death. Following Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012), it is the final instalment in her trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, minister in the court of King Henry VIII. It covers the last four years of his life, from 1536 until his death by execution in 1540.
Wolf Hall is a British television series adaptation of two of Hilary Mantel's novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, a fictionalised biography documenting the life of Thomas Cromwell.
Playground Entertainment is a television, film and theatre production company with offices in New York and London, founded in 2012 by Sir Colin Callender, former President of HBO Films.
Nick Powell is a British musician, composer and sound designer. He has worked extensively in theatre on productions in the West End and on Broadway, and for companies including the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Royal Court Theatre, and the Donmar Warehouse.
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two is a two-part play based on Hilary Mantel's novels Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2013), adapted for the stage by Mike Poulton. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More.
Thomas Cromwell was Chief Minister to King Henry VIII of England from 1534 to 1540. He played a prominent role in the important events of Henry's reign, including the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the execution of Anne Boleyn, the marriage to Anne of Cleves, the Dissolution of the monasteries, and the English Reformation. These dramatic events have provided the inspiration for plays, novels and films from shortly after his death until modern times.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is an historical drama television series. It is a second adaptation by Peter Straughan of the Wolf Hall novels by Hilary Mantel and covers The Mirror & the Light, the final novel in the trilogy. It has Peter Kosminsky returning to direct, Mark Rylance returning in the lead role of Thomas Cromwell, and Straughan returning to write from the 2015 series Wolf Hall.
Cecilia Appiah is an English stage, screen and voice actress.
