Game of Thrones' Sean Bean lands Disney+ murder mystery role
Game of Thrones actor Sean Bean has landed a role in the new Disney+ original series Shardlake.
Based on the Tudor murder mystery novels by CJ Sansom, Shardlake will see Bean play the role of Thomas Cromwell, the "dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII".
Cromwell is also the boss of Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer "with an acute sense of justice" in a world filled with schemes and plots. The Innocents star Arthur Hughes will play Shardlake.
Written by Stephen Butchard, Shardlake will be a four-part drama brimming with "mystery, suspense and deception".
Writer Butchard said in a statement announcing the news: "Although these stories are set in Tudor England, the themes absolutely engage and resonate with today’s world. Hundreds of years may have past — but humankind and what makes us tick has changed little."
The series takes place in 16th-century England "during the dissolution of the monasteries". Shardlake leads a sheltered life, but that all changes when "Cromwell instructs him to investigate the murder of one of his commissioners at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea".
However loyal Shardlake is to Cromwell and the Crown, he's unfavoured in society. As a person living with scoliosis during the Tudor period, Shardlake is derogatorily referred to as a 'crookback'.
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Disney+ also released a first-look image of Shardlake (seen above), showing Hughes as the titular character.
Rounding out the series' cast are Tetris actor Anthony Boyle as Jack Barak, Wolfe's Babou Ceesay as Abbot Fabian, Becoming Elizabeth's Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Alice and Bean's fellow Game of Thrones actor Paul Kaye as Brother Jerome.
Although an air date for Shardlake is yet to be announced, Disney+ has confirmed that production has started. Filming is taking place in Hungary, Austria and Romania.
Game of Thrones seasons 1-8 are available on DVD and Blu-ray. House of the Dragon airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK.
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