Why ‘Wolf Hall’ Sequel ‘The Mirror and the Light’ Almost Didn’t Happen

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Last year, when “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” debuted in the U.K., it was met with great acclaim by critics who praised it as “so skillfully crafted it’s awe-inspiring” and “a resounding success.” However, according to director Peter Kosminsky, making this sequel to the 2015 series “Wolf Hall” was almost not possible.

Six weeks before its release, the production was facing closure, as recalled by Kosminsky about the second season based on Hilary Mantel’s final novel in her trilogy on Henry VIII advisor Thomas Cromwell. “We were already off course financially and we had trimmed and trimmed and trimmed,” he said. During a late-night meeting, the director and executive producer made a decisive agreement: To save the project, they agreed to forgo substantial portions of their earnings. Screenwriter Peter Straughan (recently awarded an Oscar for Conclave) and lead actor Mark Rylance (Dunkirk) followed suit, also accepting considerable pay cuts.

Beginning this Sunday evening, U.S. viewers will have the opportunity to start watching the outcome of a series that commenced shooting, which is set to air on Masterpiece on PBS. This six-part production is a grand historical drama filmed in authentic Tudor (and even older) settings by candlelight, boasting intricate costumes and exceptional performances from British acting veterans – elements that earned Wolf Hall a Golden Globe, a Peabody, and eight Emmy nominations in 2015 and 2016. However, the creators of this series reveal that it narrowly escaped being derailed by financial constraints, a predicament that underscores the growing challenges faced by high-end British dramas not part of the streaming industry.

In 2015, when “Wolf Hall” debuted, merging the first two books of Mantel’s trilogy, the final book, “The Mirror & the Light,” was still unwritten. Mantel admitted that she faced challenges in portraying this later phase of Cromwell’s life because he is a contentious historical figure. However, her novels present him in a compassionate light, detailing his journey from a mistreated blacksmith’s son to a clever influencer in the royal court. Despite this, the production team felt confident that they would create a sequel once the book was published, as executive producer Colin Callender had secured options for all the novels and “Wolf Hall” had been praised by critics.

During the production of ‘Wolf Hall’, Mantel and director Kosminsky formed a very close bond. As Mantel was finishing her last Cromwell novel, instead of providing advice for the TV series, she reversed their roles. She started sending Kosminsky 100-page excerpts from her unfinished manuscript, urging him to offer comments on them. According to Kosminsky, “She would ask me to comment, and she even insisted that I do so! Can you believe it?” In the end, Mantel made changes based on Kosminsky’s feedback.

For the very first time, he openly admitted that he inquired about additional scenes focusing on the decline of Cromwell’s relationship with William FitzWilliam, and the author subsequently penned some. After The Mirror & the Light was released in 2020, screenwriter Straughan started grappling with the challenge of adapting the book’s more than 700 pages.

However, a tragic event occurred. The scriptwriting was almost two-thirds done, and casting and location scouting were in progress, when in September 2022, Mantel passed away following a stroke. Initially, the team contemplated canceling the second season out of respect for the author. Yet, with the encouragement from the BBC and Masterpiece, they decided to proceed with the production as a tribute to Mantel. According to Kosminsky, had it not been for their support during our low morale at that moment, the outcome might have been different.

The unwavering devotion to Mantel significantly contributed to the series’ ability to overcome its financial obstacles. Bringing The Mirror and the Light to fruition was no small feat, considering the numerous challenges such as coordinating busy stars and filming at National Trust properties. Nevertheless, the budget was the most significant hurdle. As producer Colin Callender, who also produces All Creatures Great and Small, explains, production costs in England have dramatically increased over the years. The influx of U.S.-based streaming services into the local production market has led to a steep rise in cast, crew, and vendor costs, while the funding provided by broadcasters in the U.K. hasn’t followed suit, according to him. Furthermore, general rises in living expenses and interest rates have made things more challenging; and the insurance for this specific project was particularly burdensome, as Kosminsky describes it. This issue is prevalent across the entire British industry, and high-end British drama is being hit especially hard by it, Callender notes.

The expenses for “The Mirror and the Light” significantly surpassed those of “Wolf Hall,” as reported by Callender. The BBC did its part, and Masterpiece admittedly dug quite deep into their funds, as stated by Susanne Simpson, the program’s executive producer. However, it was still insufficient, leading to an unexpected late-night meeting among creatives just weeks before filming commenced. The reason why many of the project’s filmmakers were willing to absorb financial losses in order to complete the project, according to writer Straughan, is their devotion to Mantel: “I believe there was a strong sense of loyalty towards her and the project from all of us,” he explained.

Despite the challenges, the series had to carefully manage its finances to stay within budget. Kosminsky shares that the filming for the second season was particularly tough due to financial constraints, as he put it, “five times harder than the first.” On one occasion, they managed 40 setups in a day instead of their usual half that amount. Remarkably, on one day, six actors sat around a table barely moving while 14 pages of dialogue were filmed in a single day. Kosminsky describes this experience as “insane” and something he hopes never to repeat.

The team pulled it off: “The Mirror and the Light” continues the story from where “Wolf Hall” ended, with Rylance’s Cromwell at the pinnacle of his influence following Anne Boleyn’s (Claire Foy in the first season) execution. However, as the king’s new wife, Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips), fails to produce a male heir and an uprising in the northern regions jeopardizes the kingdom’s stability, Cromwell’s adversaries start closing in while the king (Damian Lewis) becomes increasingly erratic. Many of the actors from the first season reprise their roles, with two exceptions: Bernard Hill (who passed away in May 2024 and is replaced as the Duke of Norfolk by Timothy Spall), and Tom Holland (who gained fame as Spider-Man after his portrayal of Cromwell’s son on “Wolf Hall” and was unavailable this time). U.S. reviews have generally been favorable so far.

Despite the success of “The Mirror and the Light,” the challenges it faced in production represent a microcosm of the bigger obstacles that producers encounter when working on projects for U.K. public service broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, or Channel 4, as expressed by its creative team.

Kosminsky recently provided written testimony to a U.K. parliamentary committee examining the current condition of local film and premium TV production, which was published in January. In this submission, he contended that a contemporary production like “The Mirror and the Light” would be challenging to produce today. The reason being, streaming services had initially considered and declined the original “Wolf Hall“; they typically avoid co-producing with public service broadcasters, opting instead to hold all intellectual property rights. Furthermore, Kosminsky asserts that these streaming platforms have contributed to local inflation, making it hard to finance productions like “The Mirror and the Light“. Both Kosminsky and British producer Jane Featherstone (known for productions such as “Black Doves” and “Chernobyl“) told the committee that there are projects at public service broadcasters that have been approved but remain in a holding pattern, awaiting sufficient funding.

In a costly production landscape, Masterpiece, based in the U.S., has chosen to participate earlier on in projects as a co-producer or even a commissioner, rather than coming in later as a co-producer or just a distributor, which were its traditional roles for U.K. projects. Despite the contraction of the U.S. entertainment industry, prices in the U.K. have not followed suit, according to Masterpiece’s Executive Producer, Simpson. The U.K., with its generous tax incentives, continues to be an alluring destination for cost-conscious producers. “We are spending more on shows than ever before,” Simpson admits.

In essence, “The Mirror and the Light” might be considered outdated in various aspects, unless there’s a shift. As Kosminsky states, “The BBC and Masterpiece went to great lengths to produce this series, and some of us even pitched in, but the times have changed. I wouldn’t hesitate to say this before the House of Commons if it wasn’t true: This show wouldn’t be made today, nor would several others.”

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2025-03-21 22:25