News, reviews and features about the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, starring Mark Rylance
February 2023
Anne Boleyn’s reputation as ‘temptress’ to be recast in new exhibition
Henry VIII’s second wife was a deeply religious woman who resisted his advances for years, according to fresh research
September 2021
Hilary Mantel on staging The Mirror and the Light: ‘I should have been doing this all my life’
As the third part of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy hits the stage, the writer talks about the perils of political powerplay, fleeing Brexit to Ireland and setting her next novel in more recent times
September 2020
The Audio Long Read
From the archives: Tudormania: Why can’t we get over it? – podcast
From the archives: Our fixation with the sexy powerplays of the Tudor court shows no signs of fading. What is it about this 16th-century dynasty that still obsesses us?
March 2020
Observer book of the week
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel review – a shoo-in for the Booker prize
The final novel in Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy is, true to form, another masterpiece
February 2020
Hilary Mantel: ‘I’ve got quite amused at people saying I have writer’s block. I’ve been like a factory!’
As the long-awaited final volume of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy is published, the twice Booker winner discusses her writing life and why she wants to write a play of her controversial Margaret Thatcher story
September 2019
Hilary Mantel: 'History is a process, not a locked box'
Best culture of the 21st century
The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century
June 2019
This is what would be lost if the BBC gave free TV licences to all over-75s
Peter Kosminsky
Original drama, Blue Planet, plus whole channels would go. This hard decision has been forced on the BBC by politicians, says writer and director Peter Kosminsky
October 2018
Remains of real Wolf Hall discovered by archaeologists
The Tudor home of the Seymour family, setting of Hilary Mantel’s books, has been discovered in the grounds of a later manor in Wiltshire
September 2018
Claire Foy: ‘My anxiety was a tool to survive’
She has just won an Emmy for her role in The Crown and now takes the lead in two Oscar-tipped films. So why doesn’t the British actor believe her own hype?
May 2017
Students take Hilary Mantel's Tudor novels as fact, says historian
Historical fiction and ‘alternative facts’ … Mantel reveals all about retelling our past
April 2017
Culture webchats
Damian Lewis webchat – your questions answered on Brexit nationalists, Eton and noisy theatregoers
The Homeland and Billions star, now starring in The Goat, talked sweet packets, war heroes and the myths of private education
September 2016
BBC set for big night at Emmys as four dramas vie for 22 nominations
The Night Manager, Luther, Sherlock and War and Peace line up with Catastrophe and Downton at ceremony
May 2016
The Audio Long Read
Tudormania: Why can’t we get over it?
I’m slaughtered by the right for criticising BBC reform at the Baftas – why?
Peter Kosminsky
First thoughts
Watch out John Whittingdale, the Strictly army is marching to save the BBC
Archie Bland
Bafta TV awards: BBC is under threat, says Wolf Hall director
The long read
Tudormania: Why can’t we get over it?
South Bank Sky Arts awards 2016 nominees announced
