THE KING and I

SEAN BEAN on playing political aide Thomas Cromwell in a monastic murder mystery

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Sir Mark Rylance left some big boots to fill with his award-winning portrayal of King Henry VIII's chief adviser Thomas Cromwell in the BBC's acclaimed adaptation of author Hilary Mantel's historical franchise Wolf Hall.

Following in his footsteps, versatile actor Sean Bean takes on the role in period crime drama Shardlake, which arrives on ITV1 this week following its debut on Disney+ in 2024.

Based on the popular novels by C.J. Sansom, the four-part series - dubbed 'the Tudor Inspector Morse' - follows lawyer Matthew Shardlake (Then Barbara Met Alan star Arthur Hughes), who is sent by Thomas to investigate the murder of his commissioner at St Donatus, so the closure of the monastery can proceed and its wealth pass to the Crown.

Matthew, who is regularly taunted as a 'crookback' because of his scoliosis, soon finds the case is more complex than he first imagined but, with Thomas' underling Jack Barak (Masters of the Air's Anthony Boyle) keeping a beady eye on him, the shrewd sleuth knows failure is not an option.