Damian Lewis sings "I'm Henry VIII I am" for Wolf Hall adaptation

Remember the old Herman's Hermits song? No? Well good old Henry VIII has long been the royal subject of works of fiction, including that song from my childhood. We first heard that Hilary Mantel's Man Booker prize winning historical fiction novel, Wolf Hall, was going to be made into a film back in November of 2011 when I wrote the post HBO, BBC and Wolf Hall, Oh My! The series has been coming together and now we're learning that Damian Lewis (Homeland) will play the legendary royal Henry VIII to Mark Rylance (The Other Bolyn Girl) as Thomas Cromwell in the BBC/Masterpiece Theatre co-production. Peter Kosminsky (White Oleander) is directing the six-part drama, Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) scripted. 

Mantel's focus in the book was Cromwell’s meteoric rise from blacksmith’s son to Henry VIII’s closest advisor.

The cast includes Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn; Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey; Joanne Whalley as Katherine of Aragon; Sherlock‘s Mark Gatiss as Stephen Gardiner, Secretary to the King; Anton Lesser as Thomas More; Mathieu Amalric as Ambassador of Spain; Charity Wakefield as Mary Boleyn; Jessica Raine as Jane Rochford; Bernard Hill as the Duke of Norfolk; Richard Dillane as the Duke of Suffolk; Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Cromwell’s ward Rafe Sadler; Natasha Little as Cromwell’s wife Liz; and Saskia Reeves as her sister Johane.
Filming is underway now in England to air in 2015 on PBS’ Masterpiece and on BBC Two.