Shardlake - Disney+

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Is it worth having somewhere to discuss this? It is live for viewing from today. Are we doing spoilers or not?

No, I don’t think Shardlake had a deformed hand but I think they wanted to cast an actor with a genuine disability to portray a disabled character. I’m assuming the scoliosis is an effect, but I’ve not read up anything about Arthur Hughes.

I haven't read the books but a couple of people at work have and mentioned this on Disney.

I absolutely loved Wolf Hall so thought I'd watch. I quite liked it, didn't get bored and liked the characters. Guessed who the killer was though.......

Thank you @GhostOrchid

Can anybody help 🙏 - can’t find Shardlake on Disney+. Really odd - doesn’t come up with a search and not appearing on any category.

Sunday eve monk telly ruined - gutted!!

Have you checked parental controls aren’t accidentally filtering it out?

this is what happened to me. I had to change parental controls

I don’t think we have any! But will check. Thanks so much both x

Finished watching it last night. Sorry but I thought it was poor. Both me and dp Have read all the books. He enjoyed it, I just thought it was silly.

did anyone notice some just poor anomalies? Things like three windows but the sun only streaming in through one of them? Millions of candles burning in broad daylight. Candles in lots of dingy corridors but not a single one in the equally dingy chapel. Are we supposed to believe that the massive bell would’ve been the first thing they’d have cleared out of the monastery rather than the opulent gold and portable goods? It was clearly a castle in Eastern Europe, not a monastery. Monks just randomly standing about chatting in groups on the slopes beneath the “monastery” wall (why?) that were there in one shot, then gone 5 seconds later. I could go on. Such a shame as I think the attention to detail was meticulous in the books. This seemed all rather careless.

Have just finished listening to the reading of the book via utube link I posted earlier.

I can see that there are parts of it that would be hard to convey in a quite short series on tv.

But am concerned that the tv adaptation has, by ommitting a major character changed the storyline.

But maybe more importantly not conveyed the impact of this case on Shardlake himself, not just the personal, but what had been his belief in political / religious reforms.

Apart from not having the time (was able to use Bank Holiday week) to fit in a 6.5 hour book, I probably wont listen to the others.

For the silly reason, that should there be a 2nd tv series I dont want to be alert to every liberty they take with plot and characters!

Only half way through the first episode and it is disappointing. Agree with comments from PPs regarding historical (in)accuracies, too Disneyfied. My key gripe at the moment is why swap out Mark for Jack? Mark is so central to the conclusion of the first book that I'm unsure how they will end the series, except to rewrite it and/or any future series. It makes zero sense to me.

Ironic having Sean Bean play Thomas Cromwell when he is well known for taking character roles who die! And the manner of Cromwell's death is such an obvious parallel with another of Sean Bean's roles.

I have not read the books but started to watch this, no preconceived ideas.
enjoyed it so far

Shardlake is one of my absolute favourite series of books, just watched the first few episodes on Disney and beyond disappointed - everything is wrong! Not sure if I can bring myself to finish it. Feels like such a waste of excellent material (to add to the sorrow of no more books, had been hoping for Shardlake/Elizabeth storylines in future).

I saw this was out and need a box set to watch while I wait for my dd to come back from late shift. I’ve never read the books but like historical drama. I like Sean Bean’s hot Sheffield accent so disappointing he’s not using it though fully understand Cromwell was not a Yorkshire man.

I agree re the casting!

Could Sean Bean have been Barack? The character needs to have that hint of menace, to be charming and drop dead scary at the same time.

This Barack is a kid. He gets wound up and angry. Barack does not get angry with fools - he has a cool head and frightens the bejaysu out of them. 😁

Could Sean Bean have been Barack?

Possibly 40 years ago but he is way too old now.

I always pictured Barak as more of a Tom Hardy type. But with curly hair. (Not sure if this even comes from the books, or my head)

Barak in the books is definitely a bit more spit and sawdust, more of a hired heavy, than TV Barak. TV Barak was too much of a dandy. The actor playing him has charm though. I can see why they didn't bother with the character of Mark. They want audiences to straight away buy into Shardlake/Barak as a duo rather than starting afresh with a new partnership in the second series.

Overall, I think I enjoyed the series. But it was a separate thing in my mind to the images of the book that I had in my head. I thought the actor playing Matthew was good, but he just looked so young, with his little round face.

Obviously filmed in Eastern Europe. Seemed so oddly sunny at times.

I wonder if they've already made series 2.

Nothing has been announced yet re a season 2 so they won’t have made it- generally they would announce it once they know they have the main actors on board.

I thought because the first series was so short (only 4 eps) that it would have been cost effective to film a second series straight after. But I suppose that’s not how these things work.

Hope it's ok to give a link - I found the radio plays here:
https://archive.org/details/BBCr4ShardlakePlays/01+Dissolution.mp3

"Based upon C. J. Sansom’s best selling historical mystery novels set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century.

The series’ protagonist is the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures initially by Mark Poer and then by Jack Barak. In Dissolution and Dark Fire, Shardlake works on commission from Thomas Cromwell, then in Sovereign and Revelation from Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, and finally from Queen Catherine Parr in Heartstone.

Since 2012, BBC Radio 4 has broadcast full cast plays of all the tales in the Shardlake series in its 15-Minute Drama radio series. Each has been adapted from Sansom's novels by Colin MacDonald as 10-part serials.

In 2012, Dissolution starred Jason Watkins as Shardlake and Mark Bonnar as Cromwell.

This was followed by Dark Fire in 2014, with Justin Salinger taking over the role of Shardlake and Bryan Dick playing Barak, then Sovereign in 2015, Revelation in 2017, Heartstone in 2018, and Lamentation in 2021.

The full cast dramas also feature Robert Glenister, Sam Dale, Sean Baker, Emily Wachter and Jessica Hardwick."

I can’t remember what happened with Mark - was years ago that I read the books!

OH and I finished it last night and agree with @BitOutOfPractice thought it was poor. I haven't read the books. Definitely had an Eastern European look to it. I'm no history buff but I wouldn't have thought monasteries would have had women working in them (for the reasons that came up) or that a woman would be able to wander about outside alone and she would definitely have had some sort of head covering. OH and I saw the 'murderer' coming a mile off and OH will freely admit he is generally rubbish at working out that kind of thing. It's tricky to discuss without spoilers, but the fact that the killing sword was very heavy and the killer was described as 'skilled' so probably an ex soldier was strangely stressed. Bit daft.

The robed figure who Shardlake kept chasing very much put me in mind of Hot Fuzz especially when S ran past him and then it appeared in front of him! We also had a chuckle at Jack on a horse as the actor is obviously no horseman and boinged up and down when the horse was moving.

I am a history buff (graduate actually) and I have read the books and I agree @Mothership4two i thought it was poor.

I'm no history buff but I wouldn't have thought monasteries would have had women working in them

CJ Sansom himself acknowledged he had got that wrong. But in fact some of the evidence dug up by Cromwell's Commissioners, to justify the dissolutions, did relate to women in the monasteries. But not as servants.

I've just watched this

Shame about not having Mark as assistant.

I did enjoy the books but not read dissolution for a long time.

This was ok but a bit sanitised