Disney+ CJ Sansom Shardlake Series Begins Production
Shardlake is reportedly in development right now at Disney+. C.J. Sansom's beloved books are getting adapted for the streamer and Variety says they're already filming in Hungary, Austria and Romania. That's not all though, Arthur Hughes will be the hero Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer with an unyielding sense of justice. Sean Bean plays his boss, Thomas Cromwell in a powerful Tudors story. It will be an interesting journey as period pieces have become more prominent in recent years. Shardlake writer Stephen Butchard told Variety that he's excited for people to see these wonderful stories on Disney+.
Butchard said, "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."
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With the novels as a basic guide, here's how MacMillan describes the first book in this popular series: "England, 1537: Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries."
"There can only be one outcome: the monasteries are to be dissolved. But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege – a black cockerel sacrificed on the altar, and the disappearance of Scarnsea's Great Relic."
"Dr Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell into this atmosphere of treachery and death. But Shardlake's investigation soon forces him to question everything he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes . . . Dissolution is the first book in this bestselling phenomenon, where C. J. Sansom creates both a stunning portrait of Tudor England, and an unforgettable character in Matthew Shardlake. Follow Shardlake into the dark heart of Tudor England with the bestselling Dark Fire, Sovereign, Revelation, Heartstone, Lamentation and Tombland."
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