New drama starts mon at 9pm. On for 4w
If you witnessed Sean Bean’s impeccable performance in the BBC’s recent crime drama, This City is Ours (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a64030538/the-city-is-ours-bbc-one/), we’re here to tell you about another flawless performance that you may have missed the first-time round.
Shardlake is the expertly cast period crime drama (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a64914854/the-gentlemen-series-2/) starring Sean
Bean as a brilliantly ruthless Thomas Cromwell and, if you didn’t catch the whodunnit when it came to Disney+ last year, the good news is that it’s heading to ITV...
CJ Sansom's Shardlake (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/shardlake-disney-season-2-release/) was brought to life by Disney Plus (https://www.radiotimes.com/disneyplus/) last year, and the very same episodes are making their way to ITV1 from Monday 9th June.
The adaptation features a stellar cast (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/shardlake-disney-plus-cast-characters/)
including Sean Bean as
Thomas Cromwell (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/shardlake-sean-bean-thomas-cromwell-exclusive-newsupdate/)
and Arthur Hughes as Matthew Shardlake, a 16th-century lawyer tasked with investigating
a murder at a monastery (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/shardlake-complex-twisty-mystery-newsupdate/)
.
He's not alone, however. His cocky assistant – or possibly Cromwell's spy – Jack Barak (Anthony Boyle) is there to aid him.
A tense mystery unfolds across four episodes, with ITV set to air them weekly.
Variety (https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/extraordinary-shardlake-canceled-disney-1236277218/) reported in January 2025 that Disney Plus wouldn't continue the series, despite there being plenty of CJ Sansom books (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/shardlake-disney-plus-books-explained/)
to adapt and it receiving favourable reviews, including our very own
four-star rating (https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/shardlake-disney-plus-review/)
.
Perhaps they'll get their chance on ITV.
Arthur Hughes plays Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer with an acute sense of justice and one of the few honest men in a world beset with scheming and plots.
Shardlake works for Thomas Cromwell, played by Sean Bean, the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII.
Despite Shardlake’s unwavering loyalty to Cromwell and the Crown, his position in society is unfavoured due to his appearance, as a person living with scoliosis during the Tudor period, suffering the indignity of being abused as a "crookback" wherever he turns.
Shardlake’s sheltered life as a lawyer, however, is turned upside down when Cromwell instructs him to investigate the murder of one of his commissioners at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea.
The commissioner was gathering evidence to close the monastery and it’s now imperative for Cromwell’s own political survival that Shardlake both solves the murder and closes the monastery.
He leaves Shardlake in no doubt, we should add, that failure is not an option. So, Cromwell insists that he’s accompanied by Jack Barak (his rather cocky assistant played by Anthony Boyle) to Scarnsea, where the duo are met with hostility, suspicion and paranoia by the monks who fear for their future and will seemingly stop at nothing to preserve their order.
Writer Stephen Butchard has described C.J. Sansom’s novels as "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." He added: “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.”
Yes – it’s brilliantly atmospheric, the plot is enormously enjoyable and Sean Bean is utterly brilliant as the ruthless Thomas Cromwell. Critics have called it "a Tudor Slow Horses", "an unmissable whodunnit" and "eminently watchable".
Sadly, a Disney spokesperson has confirmed that the drama won’t be returning for a second series and when you watch the series, we have a feeling you’ll be as baffled by the decision as we are.