“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light,” based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s trilogy, will begin filming in the United Kingdom soon, according to Masterpiece, PBS and the BBC. Oscar winner Mark Rylance is back as Thomas Cromwell, joined by Emmy winner Damian Lewis returning as King Henry VII and Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey.
Kate Phillips will also reprise her role as Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, and Lilit Lesser is Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.
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Per the release, “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” will follow “the final four years of Cromwell’s life, completing his journey from self-made man to the most feared, influential figure of his time.”
“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” is directed by Peter Kominsky, adapted by Peter Straughan and produced by Lisa Osborne. The series is executive produced by Colin Callender and Noëlette Buckley for Playground, Kosminsky, Lucy Richer for the BBC and Susanne Simpson for Masterpiece.
Masterpiece is presented on PBS by GBH Boston. Banijay Rights will distribute the series internationally.
PROGRAMMING
Canela Media has launched an after show for its reality series “Secretos De Villanas.” “Secretos El Aftershow” premieres Nov. 23 on Fridays following “Secretos de Villanas” through Dec. 29.
Each after show episode will feature an interview with one of the actresses and executive producer and host Enrique Sapene. The conversations will delve into topics beyond what is featured in the show. Verizon will have category exclusive presence for “Secretos El Aftershow” and is the exclusive presenting sponsor. In addition to Sapene highlighting Verizon’s “myPlan” on the show, the integration will also include feature deals for those watching.
“Secretos de Villanas” brings telenovela villains together — Laura Zapata, Cynthia Klitbo, Aylin Mujica, Sabine Moussier, Geraldine Bazán and Sarah Mintz — on a luxurious vacation to a villa in British Columbia. The latest season premiered on Oct. 26. Sapene and Rubén Consuegra, who serves as showrunner at River Waves Production, executive produce “Secretos de Villanas.”
DATES
“Ricky Gervais: Armageddon” will be available to stream on Netflix on Christmas day.
“For the next 2000 years people will remember the 25th December as the day ‘Armageddon’ was released on Netflix,” Gervais stated.
His new stand-up special tackles “the end of humanity, political correctness, family weddings, funerals and Artificial Intelligence,” per the release. “Armageddon” marks Gervais’ third Netflix stand-up special, following 2018’s “Humanity” and 2022’s “SuperNature,” which reached the Netflix Top 10 in 13 countries. His series “Afterlife” is also available exclusively on the streamer.
Gervais’ “Armageddon” world tour broke several world records, with his biggest ever stand-up show at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl entering the Guinness World Records. He played 85 sold-out arena dates across the globe.
“Ricky Gervais: Armageddon” is directed by John L. Spencer and produced by Derek Productions. It was recorded at the London Palladium earlier this year.
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Showtime has announced that the upcoming six-episode drama series “The Woman in the Wall’ is slated to premiere on Jan. 19 on Paramount+ with the streamer’s Showtime plan, before debuting on air on Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The series stars Ruth Wilson, who also executive produces, and Daryl McCormack. Per the show’s description, “The Woman in the Wall” centers on Lorna Brady (Wilson), a woman from the small, fictional Irish town of Kilkinure, who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house. Chillingly, Lorna has no idea who the dead woman is or if she, herself, might be responsible for the apparent murder.”
The description continues, “That’s because Lorna has long suffered from extreme bouts of sleepwalking ever since she was ripped from her life at the age of 15 and incarcerated in The Kilkinure Convent, a (fictional) home to one of Ireland’s infamous Magdalene Laundries for women. There, Lorna gave birth to her daughter Agnes, who cruelly was taken from her and whose fate Lorna never has known.”
McCormack stars as Detective Colman, who is tracking Lorna for a crime that doesn’t seem to be connected to the corpse. The rest of the cast includes Simon Delaney, Philippa Dunne, Mark Huberman, Hilda Fay, Frances Tomelty and Dermot Crowley.
“The Woman in the Wall” is produced by Motive Pictures for Showtime and the BBC. The series is created and written by Joe Murtagh. Executive producers include Simon Maxwell, Sam Lavender, Murtagh, Wilson and Harry Wootliff.
DEVELOPMENT
CreativeChaos has acquired the rights to Klementyna Suchanow’s nonfiction Polish bestseller “This Is War: Women, Fundamentalists and the New Middle Ages.”
Tom Donahue and Ilan Arboleda will adapt Suchanow’s book into a four-part docuseries that follows Suchanow’s transformation from author to activist in a trial for actions against the Polish government. With the help of an international network of journalists and activists, Suchanow will expose a fundamentalist global effort to destroy human rights and turn the world’s democracies into authoritarian regimes.
Suchanow cofounded the Polish Women’s Strike and embarked on an eight years long mission as she scrutinized a network of traditionalist-conservative organizations throughout Europe, Latin America, Africa and the United States. The series will explore how those groups are infiltrated by Kremlin agents and the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies — which were both weapons of interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.
The unnamed project will be executive produced by Donahue, Arboleda, co creator Jan Swietlik and Suchanow, who will also pen the series.
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