Homeland star Damian Lewis to play Henry VIII in BBC's Wolf Hall series

Homeland star Damian Lewis will play King Henry VIII in the BBC's adaptation of Hilary Mantel's bestselling historical novel Wolf Hall.

The six-part series charts the meteoric rise of Thomas Cromwell (played by stage star Mark Rylance) from blacksmith's son to the King's closest adviser.

Sherlock star Mark Gatiss and former Bond villain Jonathan Pryce will also star in the series, with Gatiss playing Secretary to the King and Pryce playing Cromwell's early mentor and protector Cardinal Wolsey.

The main cast of Wolf Hall is completed by Little Dorrit star Claire Foy, who'll be playing Anne Boleyn - whose marriage to Henry VIII caused massive conflict with the Vatican - and Willow star Joanne Whalley, who's cast as the spurned Katherine of Aragon.

Wolf Hall is due to screen next year.

 

 

Sean Marland

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing and Succession and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football.