Wolf Hall

Before we watched the programme, I read a review which complained about the darkness of the screen. We turned all the lights out and were totally enthralled. Mr Starkey has blown his bombast again, not having read or seen the programme. This is television, and great television at that. There might not be documentary evidence that Cromwell was sad at the death of his wife and children, but it stands to reason that he might well have been! The programme is like a series of old master paintings, the people inhabiting these settings totally realistic and believable. Mark Rylance's portrayal of Cromwell is human, kind and unpretentious: an absolute tour de force. Minimalist, lacking bombast (unlike Mr Starkey!) and memorable. I love the whole thing.

Hilary Mantel must be very impressed with the way BBC2 captured the spirit and tone of the turbulent Tudor era from the rise of Cromwell to the death of Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall. The screenwriter condensed Bring Up the Bodies into just two episodes, but the storyline was easy to follow and did not feel rushed. All in all, I loved the series, both for the acting and the beautiful settings. Of course, Master Cromwell dominated by saying very little and conveying much with his masterful presence and quietly sympathetic character. At the same time, you had to admire the ambition and intellect he displayed in giving the king the wealth and freedom he needed to propel England into becoming a major state in Europe. Of course we know Henry's private life was marred by his obsessive need for a son, a desire fuelled by the tenuous nature of the Tudor's claim to the crown and the proliferation of Plantagenets that still existed at that time. Damian Lewis made an impressive Henry, still dashing and not yet quite a complete monster, although petulant and demanding. Mark Rylance's quiet almost withdrawn portrayal was so watchful, so intelligent, you feel this might well become his signature role. And Claire Foy made an intelligent and scheming Anne, who surely would have made a marvellous queen should she have managed to produce the sons Henry desired. All I want now is for Ms Mantel to finish the story of Cromwell's remarkable life, even though we all know it ends in tragedy.

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.

The two seasons of this series are very well made and well acted. This show should be great for fans of the Tudor period but if that doesn't interest you, or you've seen too much on that narrow topic, then maybe not.

Just one thing bothered me. They really need to stop casting black actors in historical dramas where no black people would have appeared. Okay, maybe darker skinned members of the Spanish legation but not members of Henry's court. I don't think they realize that it gives the appearance of grating racism when they cast black people in minor roles but of course never in a major role.

In Shakespeare, okay. But this is hardly Shakespeare. Bridgerton is okay too. That's a fantasy. If you are going for historical realism and not one of those fantasy shows aimed at teenagers who hate history, then stick with history.

Why put all that effort into getting the costumes right if you're going to get the actors wrong? I usually don't complain about DEI like you-know-who but this is a case where I have to object.

If the BBC needs to meet some quota for non-white actors, then choose stories that naturally lend themselves to non-white characters. If it has to be some aspect of British history, then the colonial period is a possibility.

Maybe the BBC doesn't have the budget for overseas location shooting anymore? I've heard they had budget problems for the second season of this show. Maybe that explains why there was so many padding scenes of people walking through courtyards and gardens.

In summary, it's worth watching but I think I've met my lifetime quota for Tudors now. Move on to something else.

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.