During the dissolution of the monasteries in the Tudor era, the physically disabled barrister Master Matthew Shardlake is sent by Thomas Cromwell to investigate the death of a commissioner in the remote town of Scarnsea.[2]
Author C.J. Sansom granted the rights to his first Matthew Shardlake novel, Dissolution, to producer Stevie Lee in 2003. Lee initially planned to make a film with Kenneth Branagh. In 2007, the BBC optioned the novels, with Branagh still attached. However, they prioritised their production of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Branagh shifted focus to Wallander instead. Later discussions with ITV did not materialise into a production.[3]
In January 2023 it was announced that Disney+ had greenlit an adaptation of the Shardlake novels to be produced by The Forge, part of Banijay.[4] The series consists of four episodes, that are directed by Justin Chadwick from a script written by Stephen Butchard. John Griffin is producing the series, with executive producers George Ormond and Mark Pybus for The Forge, Stevie Lee for Runaway Fridge, and Lee Mason for Disney+.[5][6]
The series was available on Disney+ from 1 May 2024.[13]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 79% approval rating with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on 19 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Well acted if a bit unconvincing in its verisimilitude, Shardlake's fast pace keeps it from feeling like a dry tutoring lesson on Tudors intrigue."[14]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15]
Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph called it a "solid, intelligent offering" and that Hughes "imbues Shardlake with a sense of fairness and decency without making him too much of a goody-two-shoes".[16] Joel Golby in The Guardian wrote that "Hughes is superb" and that his "Holmes-Watson dynamic with Boyle's rogueish Jack Barak is very enjoyable".[17] Vicky Jessop in The Evening Standard described it as "a tightly plotted, gorgeously atmospheric piece of television".[18]
