Disney Announce Period Crime Drama “Shardlake”

Shardlake, a thrilling new series based on C.J. Sansom’s bestselling murder mysteries has been announced by Disney+. 

Matthew Shardlake, a barrister with a keen sense of justice and one of the few honest men in a world beset by scheming and plotting, will be played by Arthur Hughes (“The Innocents”, “Then Barbara Met Alan”).

Shardlake is employed by Thomas Cromwell, portrayed by Sean Bean (“Time,” “Game of Thrones”), the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII. Despite his undying loyalty to Cromwell and the Crown, Shardlake’s position in society is unfavourable due to his appearance, as a person living with scoliosis during the Tudor period.

Along with Babou Ceesay (“Wolfe”, “Damilola”) as Abbot Fabian, Paul Kaye (“The Stranger”, “Game of Thrones”) as Brother Jerome, and Ruby Ashbourne Serkis (“The Greatest Beer Run Ever”, “Becoming Elizabeth”) as Alice, the ensemble also includes Anthony Boyle (“Masters of the Air”, “Tetris”).

Based on the first book in Sansom’s series, this chilling whodunit is set in 16th-century England during the dissolution of the monasteries and is told over the course of four episodes. When Cromwell sends Shardlake to investigate the murder of one of his commissioners at a monastery in the out-of-the-way town of Scarnsea, Shardlake’s comfortable existence as a lawyer is turned upside down.

For Cromwell’s own political survival, it is crucial that Shardlake not only solve the murder but also close the monastery, where the commissioner had been collecting evidence. The possibility of failing is eliminated in Shardlake’s mind.

Cromwell claims to be joined by the confident and handsome Jack Barak (Boyle), but Shardlake can’t tell if Barak is an aide or a spy for Cromwell. The monks of Scarnsea greet the two with hostility, suspicion, and paranoia out of dread for the future of their order.

Peter Firth plays Norfolk, Matthew Steer is Goodhap, Brian Vernel is Brother Mortimus, Irfan Shamji is Brother Guy, David Pearse is Brother Edwig, Miles Barrow is Brother Gabriel, Mike Noble is Bugge, Kimberley Nixon is Joan, and there are a number of other brothers and sisters in the ensemble.

The author of “Baghdad Central” and “The Last Kingdom” Stephen Butchard is scripting the series. The series is directed by Justin Chadwick (“The Other Boleyn Girl”) and produced by John Griffin, with executive producers George Ormond and Mark Pybus of The Forge, Stevie Lee of Runaway Fridge, and Lee Mason of Disney+ EMEA.

Stephen Butchard, Writer, adds “Writing Shardlake has been nothing short of a joy. C.J. Sansom’s novels are incredibly rich in story, character and history; full of intrigue, excitement, cruelty and compassion – and at the centre of it all is Matthew Shardlake, a hero like no other. Although these stories are set in Tudor England, the themes absolutely engage and resonate with today’s world. Hundreds of years may have past – but humankind and what makes us tick has changed little.”

The shoot has officially begun, with locations in Hungary, Austria, and Romania.