I’m Jace Lacob and you’re listening to MASTERPIECE Studio. 

If you walk through the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace, the site of King Henry VIII’s court, a canny observer might notice the intertwined initials “H” and “A” — for Henry and the bewitching Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife. The interlacing of those initials speaks to the love and devotion between the two and acts as a bittersweet reminder that grand buildings and palaces all too often survive far longer than romance.

Centuries later, historians and viewers alike are still captivated by the story of Henry VIII and his six wives, one overflowing with romance, betrayal, heresy, and executions — proving, quite emphatically, that truth is often far stranger than fiction.

Henry’s legacy has endured these past several centuries, helped by copious books, television shows, films, plays, and works of art that depict the voracious and murderous king as he stops at nothing to ensure himself a male heir. Or perhaps it’s that Herman’s Hermits song, “I’m Henry the VIII, I Am” that has cemented his place in pop culture. Or, the prevalence of that morbid nursery rhyme about his six wives: “Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.”

Wolf Hall is director Peter Kosminsky’s 2015 adaptation of the late author Hilary Mantel’s 2009 and 2012 renowned Booker Prize-winning historical novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, which recount Henry and Anne Boleyn’s tumultuous marriage and the rise to power of Henry’s fixer, Thomas Cromwell.

Unlike Henry, Cromwell did not come from a position of wealth and privilege. Born as a blacksmith’s son, Cromwell rises to become an advisor first to Cardinal Wolsey and later the king’s right-hand man. Cromwell quickly seizes power to emerge as one of the most powerful men in 16th century Europe — one who has been accused of utilizing torture and blackmail in his role as Henry’s “most faithful servant.” But despite his position, Cromwell can never forget the power of the king.

 

CLIP

Cromwell: Do you remember how you used to compare the king to a tamed lion? You can pet him, you can pull at his ears if you wish, but all the time you’re thinking to yourself, those claws. Look at those claws.

 

Wolf Hall’s title comes from the name of Wolfhall, the ancestral seat of the Seymour clan — that’s a little spoiler for those familiar with Henry’s story — as well as the Latin phrase, “Homo homini lupus,” or “Man is a wolf to man.” A stark reminder, both to Cromwell and to viewers, that Henry’s court is inherently dangerous and predatory. Better sharpen those claws, Cromwell.

England, 1529. King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon have been married for 20 years. They have a daughter, Mary, but have been unable to produce a living male heir. Henry, convinced the problem lies with Katherine, desperately wants a new queen who can provide him with a son. But legally dissolving his marriage has proven almost impossible.

King Henry’s frustration courses through the palace halls and kingdom, but is most sharply aimed at his lord chancellor, the man closest to Henry with the most direct line to the pope, Cardinal Wolsey. Wolsey has been petitioning the pope for Henry’s annulment for the past two years, but has gotten nowhere. Wolsey cannot afford to fail his master in this matter, but he has no choice.

 

EPISODE 1

Wolf Hall opens with the Duke of Norfolk, Cardinal Wolsey’s enemy, and the Duke of Suffolk heading to Wolsey’s palace. Under the dim moonlight, the dark figures advance to the palace in silhouette. Once inside, the flicker of candlelight casts ominous shadows that creep and dance around the room. His hands shaking in anticipation of the king’s inevitable punishment, Wolsey knows his time is running out.

 

CLIP

Duke of Norfolk: Wolsey, you’re out!

Wolsey: My lords, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Duke of Suffolk: Cardinal Wolsey, you’re dismissed as Lord Chancellor. By the king’s orders, you are to return to us the great seal.

 

But before Wolsey or the Dukes can act, our cunning protagonist Thomas Cromwell steps in. Cromwell, an advisor to Wolsey, puts his considerable talents to use and buys his master just a little more time. 

 

CLIP

Wolsey: Actually, my lawyer tells me I can’t give you the seal, written request or no. He tells me that properly speaking, I should hand it only to the master of the roles. So, you better come back with him.

 

The next morning, however, Henry’s men return and Wolsey is evicted from his lavish residency at York Place and exiled to Esher Place, where he’s kept under house arrest. Henry plans to use Wolsey’s old residency to house his new love interest, Anne Boleyn, his wife’s lady-in-waiting. 

There’s bad blood between Anne and the cardinal, who thwarted her betrothal to Henry Percy eight years earlier. She’s only too pleased to see Wolsey cast out of the king’s good graces, as is the Duke of Norfolk, who happens to be Anne’s uncle, and who has harbored a grudge against Wolsey ever since. 

 

CLIP

Wolsey: This is what they’ve waited for, Suffolk, Norfolk, Boleyn, they won’t rest until they have my head.

 

Cromwell has been Wolsey’s loyal advisor for eight years, and he owes his elevated status to the cardinal, who took him in. With his master now in exile, Cromwell prepares to fight for Wolsey. After a tense dinner with Chancellor Thomas More and French diplomat Eustace Chapuys, Cromwell’s friend Antonio Bonvisi gives him some advice. 

 

CLIP

Antonio Bonvisi: The cardinal is finished. He’ll go, and then you’ll be without a master to protect you. Leave him now.

 

A few days later, Cromwell prepares for his day and says goodbye to his wife Liz. He is surprised to find her still in bed, looking very weak and delirious. When he returns home later that afternoon, he discovers Liz and their two daughters lifeless in bed. It’s a sudden, devastating loss that leaves Cromwell consumed with remorse. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: Everybody said it was back, this sweating sickness. I should’ve sent them to the country.

 

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that King Henry’s wife, Katherine, was previously married to Henry’s brother, Arthur, who then died at age 15 without an heir. Although Katherine claims her marriage to Arthur was never consummated, King Henry believes this is the sin that cursed his marriage to Katherine, preventing him from having a male heir. And this is also his angle to prove to the pope that his marriage to Katherine isn’t legitimate and can be annulled. But still, the pope won’t budge.

Back in the show’s present day, we return to York Place, where Cromwell meets Anne Boleyn in her new residence. Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell are both in favor of the king’s annulment, however, Anne’s resentment with Wolsey makes Cromwell an enemy by association. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: No one is more distressed than the cardinal that the king cannot have his heart’s desire, which is ever the cardinal’s desire too. He knows that all the king’s subjects repose their hopes in you for an heir to the throne—

Anne Boleyn: Very nice. Very nice Mr. Cromwell, but try again. One thing, one simple thing we asked of the cardinal, and he would not.

Cromwell: You know it wasn’t simple.

Anne Boleyn: Well, perhaps I’m a simple person. Do you feel I am?

Cromwell: You may be. I hardly know you.

 

Wolsey’s fate, although not yet determined, is looking more and more grim. Cromwell needs to find a way to save his master’s, and friend’s, life. Cromwell petitions the Duke of Norfolk for a seat in Parliament to speak on Wolsey’s behalf. Episode 1 ends with Cromwell asking Henry for a trial for Wolsey. But the king’s mind is already made up.

 

EPISODE 2

Episode 2 begins in December of 1529. Cardinal Wolsey is still in exile at Esher, but Anne Boleyn and her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, want him even further away from Henry, far north in Yorkshire. Cromwell is still in London battling on Wolsey’s behalf, but he isn’t making much progress with the king. 

 

CLIP

King Henry: I can’t talk about the cardinal.

Cromwell: Your majesty—

King Henry: No, don’t you understand? I can’t talk about him.

 

At Esher Place, Wolsey is in low spirits, preparing to make the journey to the distant north. 

 

CLIP

Wolsey: The king wants me gone, wants to humiliate me, thinks it sends a sharp message to the pope. I feel like Katherine, cast off. But still, I love him.

 

Cromwell continues to petition Henry on Wolsey’s behalf. Henry, feeling somewhat nostalgic and sympathetic to the cardinal, agrees to give Wolsey 1,000 pounds. 

 

CLIP

King Henry: Don’t tell anyone. It’s the best I can do. Take it with my blessing, and ask him to pray for me. Everyday I miss the cardinal of York.

 

Wolsey prepares to head north. He says farewell to Cromwell and gives him a gift to be opened once he’s gone. Sir Thomas More, Wolsey’s chief rival, steps in and takes Wolsey’s place as lord chancellor.

Now that Wolsey is out of the picture, Anne begins to exert more authority around the palace and redoubles her efforts to become Henry’s wife and the next Queen of England. 

 

CLIP

Mary: If you’re waiting for her, I should warn you she’s in a temper.

Cromwell: Uh-huh.

Mary: Nothing happens quickly enough for Anne. You’d think she’d be happy. You know, when the king first turned his attention to her, he thought, knowing how things are done in France, that she might accept a certain…position at court. But that wasn’t enough for Anne. You know what she said to me? She said “This isn’t France, and I’m not a fool like you, Mary.” Because she knows that I was Henry’s mistress and she see how I am left. And she takes a lesson from it. She’s vowed that she’ll marry him and what Anne wants, she’ll have.

 

In time, we learn that Wolsey isn’t living the miserable life up north that Anne and the Duke of Norfolk believed him to be. A report from Wolsey’s usher, George Cavendish, reveals that aside from the “deplorable” food, Wolsey is actually doing quite well. 

 

CLIP

Cavendish: Everywhere he goes, Thomas, they flock to see him. Thousands of them! You can see his old spirit returning. He’s called a convocation of the northern church.

Cromwell: Without informing the king.

Cavendish: He said, “Ah, George, why do they need to know?”. It’s a signal of independence, that’s all.

Cromwell: Some might say a signal of pride.

 

Cromwell’s reaction makes us wonder if he’s worried about his old master’s safety, or if his own allegiances are shifting. Cromwell claims that he can’t be up north with Wolsey because he is needed in London to persuade Henry to bring Wolsey back. But is that, strictly speaking, true? Cromwell’s sly tactics soon win him the king’s favor, as Henry begins to call on Cromwell for both professional and personal counsel. 

 

CLIP

Henry: Some say I should consider my marriage dissolved and I should remarry as I please. And soon. But there are others who say….

Cromwell: I’m one of the others.

Henry: Dear Christ. I shall be unmanned by it! How long am I supposed to wait? Anne says she’ll leave me, says there are other men. Says she’s wasting her youth.

 

One night, Henry summons Cromwell because he had a dream about his late brother Arthur that left him feeling uneasy. Cromwell offers the king his strategic support. 

 

CLIP

Henry: Why does he come back now? I have been king for 20 years.

Cromwell: Because now is the vital time! Now is the time for you to become the king you should be, the sole and Supreme Head of your kingdom. Ask Anne, she’ll say the same.

Henry: She does. She says we should not bow to Rome.

Cromwell: And if your father should come to you in a dream, you take it the same way as you take this one. They come to strengthen your hand.

 

Towards the end of Episode 2, Cromwell is once again visited by George Cavendish, who brings news of Wolsey. The other night, Henry Percy, determined to get revenge on Wolsey for preventing his marriage to Anne Boleyn, arrested Wolsey on charges of high treason. On the route back to London, Wolsey fell ill in Leicester and died the following day. As Cavendish relays the news, tears well up in Cromwell’s eyes. 

Episode 2 ends with Thomas More officially swearing Cromwell into Henry’s privy council and Cromwell opening the box from Wolsey, containing a turquoise ring. 

 

CLIP
Cavendish: I knelt by his body and I wept, and I prayed to God to send vengeance upon them all!

Cromwell: There’s no need to trouble God, George. I’ll take it in hand.

 

 

EPISODE 3

1531. Henry has still made no progress with the pope on his annulment. His frustration growing, Henry decides to take matters into his own hands and asks Parliament to make him the Supreme Head of the Church in England so he can annul his own marriage. This bold move pits Henry against Rome and the Catholic Church. Not everyone shares Henry’s views. Many devout Catholics see this move as heresy, most notably, Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More.

Heresy becomes a central theme in this episode, and Thomas More its main opposition. Episode 3 opens with a scene of the pious More torturing Cromwell’s friend and lawyer, James Bainham. Bainham openly supports the views of William Tyndale, an English biblical scholar whom More has branded a heretic for translating the Bible into English from its original Latin. 

We then transition to Cromwell staring at a brutal painting of a woman being burned alive, the customary method of execution for heretics in Europe at the time. Cromwell is then summoned to speak with Henry’s wife, Katherine, and Princess Mary. It is here that we learn Cromwell is the mastermind behind this decision to make Henry the Supreme Head.

 

CLIP

Katherine of Aragon: I have heard all about your new bill. And you think the king to describe himself as the head of the church?

Mary Tudor: The pope is the head of the church everywhere.  

 

Cromwell then tells Katherine that Henry is moving her out of the palace and into The More of Hertfordshire. Having fallen out of the king’s favor, she too has been banished from his presence. 

Cromwell’s bill is brought before Parliament, and the majority votes to make Henry the Supreme Head of the Church in England. 

Meanwhile, Henry and Anne spend more time together. As long as she is in good standing with the king, she is safe. But in a private conversation with Cromwell, Anne reveals how aware she is of the complex politics at play. 

 

CLIP

Anne: Last week at Greenwich a friar preached to us about the good king who was corrupted by the wicked Jezebel. Apparently, she built a pagan temple and let the priests of Baal into the palace. She ended up being thrown out of a window. I’m the Jezebel, you see? And you’re the priests of Baal.

Cromwell: I see.

 

Cromwell then tells Anne that Thomas More has arrested and tortured his barrister, James Bainham, a follower of Tyndale. Cromwell asks Anne to do something about it. 

 

CLIP

Anne: Your barrister friend will recant, and he’ll be released.

Cromwell: And if he doesn’t?

Anne: Then he’s a fool. People should say whatever will keep them alive. You would, wouldn’t you? 

 

Anne’s pragmatic words are a central theme in this story. Those who willingly adopt the favorable stance can keep their necks and live to tell the tale, while those who stick by their morals are unlikely to survive. 

Panic soon spreads through the Boleyn family as Henry Percy circulates a dangerous rumor that he and Anne are still legally married. If this were found to be true, Anne and the king could not wed. Anne’s tenuous position comes into focus: she and her family are only safe if Anne is in power. 

 

CLIP

Anne: I deny everything.

Cromwell: Good.

Anne: Harry Percy spoke of love. I’ll allow that but there was no contract.

Mary: And no consummation. My sister is a notorious virgin.

 

Cromwell threatens to destroy Henry Percy financially if he utters one more word about his relationship with Anne. Cromwell’s true alliance is now with the king. If King Henry wants to marry Anne, Cromwell will do all he can to make that happen, regardless of what he personally thinks of Anne. For Cromwell, like Anne, being in Henry’s favor is the safest place to be.

Thomas More resigns from his position as chancellor because of Henry’s decision to split with the Catholic Church. More sees this as heresy and will not support it. Anne is delighted to see one more person opposed to her marriage to Henry out of the picture.

 

CLIP

Henry: We’re off to Calais. The king of France has agreed to speak to the pope in favor of my new marriage. We’ll meet there to discuss points of a treaty. Last time we met, Wolsey arranged everything. I thought perhaps you could help organize things this time?

Cromwell: Lean on me, your majesty. 

 

While in Calais, France, Henry makes Anne a binding promise of marriage and they consummate their agreement. When they return to England, Henry follows through and officially marries Anne. Not long after, Anne is crowned Queen. Her position is almost safe and she now has what she wanted the most. But, she must give Henry what he wants most, a male heir. Katherine’s fate looms large over Anne, as Anne learns she is with child. Towards the end of Episode 3, Anne prepares for confinement, as she is nearing the end of her pregnancy. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: You look happy. Are you happy?

Anne: Yes. Because of this. I was always desired, but now I’m valued, you see? And that’s different.

 

Cromwell’s family, like Anne’s, needs this baby to be a boy if they are all to survive.

 

CLIP

Rafe: All of our fortunes depend on this lady now, and whether she can provide an heir. We all know it’s a long road between a child in the womb and one safely in the crib.

 

Episode 3 ends on a somber note as James Bainham, regretting his earlier recanting, reads from the English language version of the Bible during a service and is imprisoned at the Tower of London. Cromwell tries to engineer his escape, but Banhaim says no, unwilling to surrender his religious beliefs. He is burned alive at the stake. 

Will Anne’s child be the male heir Henry has long desired? Is James Bainham’s fate a warning for what is to come? And how safe is Cromwell’s position? That’s all coming up after the break. 

 

MIDROLL

 

EPISODE 4

1533. Henry has split from the Catholic Church and declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church in England. He has left his wife Katherine, and in defiance of the pope, has crowned Anne Queen of England. We last saw Anne preparing for confinement and childbirth as Henry, Cromwell, and the Boleyns anxiously prayed for a male heir. Anne returns home… with her newborn daughter.

 

CLIP

King Henry: Healthy?

Thomas Cranmer: Yes, your majesty.

King Henry: Call her Elizabeth. Cancel the joust.

 

Because Henry and Anne’s child is not a male, Anne’s position grows increasingly uncertain and her enemies slowly begin to turn on her. In a private conversation with Cromwell, Lady Rochford, who is married to Anne’s brother, alludes to Anne not being faithful to Henry. Rafe, Cromwell’s ward, can see the tides changing as well.

 

CLIP

Rafe: The queen sees enemies everywhere.

Cromwell: So she should, they’re waiting for her to fail. She said she’ll give Henry a son. So if she doesn’t, all of the old families are waiting their turn.

 

Meanwhile, Cromwell begins to weed out those in the kingdom that do not support Henry’s position as the Supreme Head of the Church in England. He puts together a list for Henry and by doing so, further ingratiates himself to the king. 

 

CLIP

King Henry: It’s hard to believe they’d betray me, these people, I’ve known them all my life. Exeter has been a friend of mine since I was a boy.

 

Cromwell takes it one step further, a step that puts the pious Thomas More in a difficult position. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: We’re putting a bill of succession forward recognizing Anne as Henry’s lawful wife and their children as the rightful heirs. If the bill succeeds, and it will, we’d like to seal the act with an oath.

More: What sort of legislation needs to be confirmed by an oath?

Cromwell: Well, believe it or not, there are those who will feel such matters should be left to Rome. We want to make it clear that Rome has no legitimate voice here in England, so why don’t you sign the oath? Put your loyalty beyond doubt.

 

And thus begins a series of attempts to get More to sign the oath, all in vain. More is imprisoned. 

 

CLIP

Lord Chancellor Audley: He should at least give his reasons.

Cromwell: We know his reasons. All of Europe knows his reasons. He’s against the divorce, he doesn’t believe the king can be the head of the Church. His heart is with Rome, not with England. He’d sooner see some foreigner imposed by the emperor ruling us than back a man who’s been his friend since childhood.

 

Despite their tumultuous history, it pains Cromwell to see More resist signing the oath. Cromwell visits him in the tower and tries repeatedly to convince More to sign, but fails each time. Running out of options, Cromwell even tries to change Henry’s mind. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: This business of Thomas More. I don’t doubt his loyalty to Rome nor his hatred of your majesty’s title as head of the church, however, legally, our case is slender. It won’t be easy.

Henry: Do I keep you for what’s easy? Do you think I’ve promoted you for the charm of your presence? I keep you because you are a serpent. Do not be a viper in my bosom. You know my decision. Execute it.

 

Thomas More’s wife, Alice, visits Cromwell to see if there’s anything else that can be done, leading Cromwell to make one final attempt. But More is unwavering. 

 

CLIP

More: When we meet again in Heaven, as I hope we will, all our differences will be forgot. But for now, we cannot wish them away. All I have, all I own is the ground I stand upon. That ground is Thomas More. If you want it, you must take it. I will not yield it.

 

More is put on trial and found guilty of treason. He is sentenced to death, a martyr to his beliefs.

 

CLIP

More: My conscience stands with the majority against Henry’s kingdom. I have all the kingdoms of Christendom.

Norfolk: Now we see your malice, sir!

More: Against each one of your bishops!

Norfolk: Now we see you choose Rome over England.

More: Against your Parliament!

Norfolk: You traitor!

More: I have all the general councils of the church, stretching back for 1,000 years!

 

By the end of Episode 4, Cromwell plans out the itinerary for the king’s summer progress, and schedules five days at Jane Seymour’s family home… Wolf Hall. 

 

EPISODE 5

1535. Parliament has passed the Act of Supremacy, officially making King Henry the Supreme Head of the Church in England. Regardless, the Holy Roman Emperor still refuses to acknowledge Henry’s new title or his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Episode 5 opens with Henry and the rest of his royal progress arriving at Wolf Hall, Jane Seymour’s family home. While they dine, an exhausted Henry falls asleep at the dining table. While Cromwell and the other men debate on how to wake the king, Jane Seymour takes it upon herself. A gentle tap on the king’s hand brings him out of his slumber.  A little while later in their visit, Cromwell spots Jane and Henry outside sharing an intimate moment.

 

CLIP

Edward Seymour: This is no time to be shy. Tell Cromwell what Henry asked you.

Jane Seymour: He asked me if I would look kindly on him, if he wrote me a poem, for instance. I said I would.

Edward Seymour: Good.

 

Back in London, Anne grows increasingly frustrated and frightened. She has not yet given Henry a son and her enemies are closing in. Someone has thrown her dog out of a window to its death. Anne feels she is losing her grip and is being pushed out. She had previously requested that Cromwell travel to France to find her daughter Elizabeth a husband. Now, we find out that Katherine’s daughter Mary is set to be married to the man Anne wanted Elizabeth to marry. 

 

CLIP

Anne: It’s as if my daughter had never been born, as if Katherine was still queen, as if I didn’t exist.

 

In a desperate attempt at spite, Anne tells Cromwell to publicly humiliate Princess Mary so she loses her reputation. But Cromwell will do no such thing. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: There was a time, madam, that you would listen to my advice. Let me advise you now. Drop your plans and schemes. Put down the burden of them.

 

Much to Anne’s delight, Katherine soon breathes her last breath. Anne is overjoyed, and Henry, despite being married to Katherine for over 23 years, doesn’t seem too upset. 

 

CLIP

Henry: I suppose we must expect the country to mourn for her. She was once given the title of queen.

Anne: Mistakenly.

Thomas Wriothesley: Your majesty, do you wish the body brought to St. Paul’s?

Henry: We will lay her to rest in Peterborough. It will cost less.

 

Not long after, Anne wakes up in the middle of the night to her bed engulfed in flames. While Cromwell investigates the fire, Lady Rochford suggests to him that Anne may have had a male visitor in the night. 

 

CLIP

Lady Rochford: If, as it may happen, some person visits the queen after the lights are out, then it is an event over which we should draw a veil.

Cromwell: Some person? Some person for the purposes of arson, or the purposes of something else? Lady Rochford, Jane, when the time comes to unburden your conscience don’t go to a priest, he’ll give you penance. I’ll give you a reward.

 

At a jousting event, Henry suddenly loses consciousness. Convinced he is dead, the bystanders begin to panic. In a dramatic last ditch effort, in the midst of a chaotic crowd, Cromwell pummels the unconscious Henry in the chest and revives him. This scare shows just how precarious Cromwell’s position is. If the king were to actually die, there’s no telling what the Boleyn family would do. 

Henry and Anne have been trying for another child. Anne soon becomes pregnant, but miscarries. Henry begins to wonder if he should never have married Anne. 

 

CLIP

Henry: It seems to me that I was dishonestly led into this marriage.

Thomas Cranmer: How, dishonestly?

Henry: It seems to me I was seduced, practiced upon. Perhaps with charms, with spells. Women do such things. And if that were so, the marriage would be null, wouldn’t it?

 

Towards the end of Episode 5, Henry has made up his mind about Anne and asks a big favor from Cromwell. 

 

CLIP

Henry: I cannot live as I have lived, Cromwell. You must free me from it, from Anne.

 

At the end of Episode 5, Rafe shares some intel that could be exactly what Cromwell needs to execute the king’s request. 

 

CLIP

Rafe: They talk about the queen.

Cromwell: They?

Rafe: Weston, Brereton, sometimes Norris.

Cromwell: Go on.

Rafe: The queen needs to conceive another child, quickly. And they say that Henry cannot be trusted to do the deed so, one of them has to step in and do him a favor.

Cromwell: Have they come to any conclusion?

 

We’re left with a final shot of the ghost of Wolsey visiting Cromwell with advice from beyond the grave. 

 

CLIP

Wolsey: Trouble is Thomas, the king wants a new wife. Fix him one. I didn’t, and now I’m dead.

 

Will Cromwell follow in his mentor’s footsteps?

 

EPISODE 6

Our final episode begins in 1536. Henry has grown increasingly distrustful of Anne and has tasked Cromwell with getting rid of her. Henry has turned his amorous attention to English rose Jane Seymour. Anne can sense the danger. Out of anger and fear, she threatens Cromwell. 

 

CLIP

Anne: You think you’ve grown great. You think you no longer need me. But you’ve forgotten the most important thing, Cromwell. Those who’ve been made can be unmade.

Cromwell: I entirely agree.

 

Anne continues to make enemies in the palace, including those closest to her. Her confidence overcompensating for fear, she gives voice to the rumors that she might be seeing other men. Lady Rochford compiles these claims to hold against Anne. As Anne digs herself further into danger, everyone can sense her time is running out. She becomes frantic. 

 

CLIP

Harry Norris: Will you spill all of your secrets Anne, or only some?

Anne: Get him back. It was idle talk, get him back. Get him back and he’ll swear on the Bible. He knows me to be a good wife. Get him back! Harry!

 

Lady Rochford, eager to get revenge on Anne for trying to kill her, informs Cromwell of what she’s heard. 

 

CLIP

Lady Rochford: My husband George is always with Anne.

Cromwell: He’s her brother. It’s natural.

Lady Rochford: There’s nothing natural in George. And nothing is forbidden. I’ve seen them kiss.

Cromwell: Brothers may kiss their sisters—

Lady Rochford: His tongue in her mouth, hers in his.

 

Lady Rochford then tells Cromwell that the reason Anne is sleeping with her husband — Anne’s own brother! — is because she needs a son who maintains the Boleyn appearance, otherwise Henry could become suspicious. Lady Rochford tells Cromwell to discuss this further with the musician Mark Smeaton. Mark confesses to having relations with the queen. And after a miserable night locked up under Cromwell’s watch, Mark shares the names of the queen’s other lovers. 

 

CLIP

Mark Smeaton: Henry Norris, Francis Weston, and William Brereton, and Frances Bryan.

 

Cromwell’s men inform the king of Anne’s infidelity and she is removed from the palace. 

 

CLIP

Henry: She deceived all of us. When I look back, it all falls into place. So many friends lost, alienated, worse. When I think of Wolsey, the way she practiced against him. She said she loved me, but she meant the opposite.

 

Anne’s suspected lovers are also locked up. In the tower, as Cromwell interrogates these men, his darker side emerges. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: Do you want me to write it on the wall for you, Norris? She can’t give him a son. He wants another wife. She won’t go quietly. Is that simple enough for your simple tastes? She has to be pushed. I have to push her.

Harry Norris: Well, you’ll get no confession from me, or Brereton either. You’ll not torture gentlemen. The king wouldn’t permit it.

Cromwell: Well, they don’t have to be formal arrangements. I could put my thumbs in your eyes, and then you would sing “Green Grows the Holly” if I asked you to.

 

Cromwell also reminds Norris of the play put on against Wolsey, where the cardinal was dragged to hell. This play, put on in part by Norris, has long fueled Cromwell’s thirst for revenge. 

 

CLIP

Cromwell: I need guilty men, Harry. So, I’ve found men who are guilty. Though not necessarily as charged.

 

Meanwhile, Anne’s time is running out. Cromwell advises her to help the king because even if he is not merciful to her, then perhaps he will be merciful to their daughter, Princess Elizabeth, after Anne is gone. 

 

CLIP

Anne: No, just tell me, you don’t believe these stories against me, do you? I know in your heart you don’t, do you Cromwell? I only have a little neck, so it’ll be the work of a moment.

 

Anne and her accused adulterers are put on trial. She is found guilty, but rather than the usual punishment of being burned, she is sentenced to death by beheading, by order of Henry.  

May 19, 1536, the day of her execution. Anne walks to the scaffold, handing out coins to the eager spectators in the crowd, while glancing up at the tower, presumably where Henry waits. Anne gives a final speech before her execution. 

 

CLIP

Anne: I am come hither to accuse no man. Nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord.

 

But despite these pleas to Henry’s better nature, the executioner’s blade comes swiftly down on Anne’s neck. 

We’re left with a final, chilling shot of Cromwell walking towards an exuberant Henry, arms stretched wide. As they embrace, Henry grins ear to ear, pleased with Cromwell’s work at removing Anne from his life. But Cromwell’s expression is melancholy, uneasy. Just how dangerous is this game he’s been playing? How much more will be asked of him by his king? And, given Henry’s temperament, will Anne’s warning that Cromwell “can be unmade” prove to be prophetic?

You can watch — or re-watch — Wolf Hall any time on PBS Passport ahead of the upcoming sequel that continues Cromwell’s story in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, coming to MASTERPIECE in Spring, 2025. 

And with that, we conclude our 2024 programming here at MASTERPIECE. Be sure to tune in to MASTERPIECE on PBS in January for all new seasons of All Creatures Great and Small and Miss Scarlet. It all begins Sunday, January 12th, 2025 at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central on MASTERPIECE on PBS.