Wolf Hall leads BAFTA TV nominees as Transparent takes on Narcos

March 30, 2016 | James R

Wolf Hall is leading the pack in the 2016 BAFTA TV nominations in a year that cements the importance of streaming services in UK living rooms.

The BBC’s historical drama has received four nominations, including Leading Actor for Mark Rylance … Read More

UK TV review: Wolf Hall Episode 6

March 1, 2015 | James R

Oh, Anne. We knew you didn’t have the head for the job. The inevitability of history has hung over Wolf Hall from the beginning, giving everything a doomed sense of dramatic irony. Claire Foy has sunk her teeth into it, … Read More

UK TV review: Wolf Hall Episode 5 (Crows)

February 20, 2015 | James R

Whoever said Wolf Hall was boring? The ratings may have dropped for the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels, but the penultimate episode of the season is its busiest yet.

Death comes to Wolf Hall in Episode 5. It might … Read More

UK TV review: Wolf Hall Episode 4

February 15, 2015 | James R

Words. Words. Just words.

If Wolf Hall could be accused of anything, it’s of being over-written. Slow-paced, stuffed with characters and told in a present tense without a name for its main character, the unwieldy trait of Hilary Mantel’s novels … Read More

UK TV review: Wolf Hall Episode 3

February 8, 2015 | James R

1531. Two years have passed since our last visit to Wolf Hall and the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novel has become bolder, almost Tarantino-esque in its entertainment. Here, between all the pageantry and dresses, there is violence, there is … Read More

UK TV review: Wolf Hall Episode 2

January 30, 2015 | James R

“There’s a conversation I shouldn’t have had.”

That’s Cromwell, after talking to his sister-in-law (Saskia Reeves) in a typically dark room. It’s a key turning point in the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novel: after the first, somewhat dizzying, hour … Read More

UK TV review: Wolf Hall Episode 1 (Three Card Trick)

January 23, 2015 | James R

You’ve either read it or you haven’t. Or, perhaps more likely, you’ve started to read it and never quite managed to finish. But now that Wolf Hall has arrived on the BBC, the question isn’t “Have you read it?” but … Read More