Almost ten years after the first series of the award-winning Wolf Hall aired on BBC, the first episode of the ‘darker and bloodier’ series premiered on Sunday night.
In 2015 the sumptuous costume drama, based on Dame Hilary Mantel’s novel of the same name and starring Sir Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, exploded onto screens.
And after a decade-long wait, fans were excited to settle down for the first episode of the second series.
But they were quickly left horrified after a brutal and harrowing execution scene was shown just minutes into the first episode.
Viewers were transported back to the the brutal and gory world of Tudor England as soon as the opening credits had rolled on Sunday.
Almost ten years after the first series of the award-winning Wolf Hall aired on BBC, the first episode of the ‘darker and bloodier’ series premiered on Sunday night
And after a decade-long wait, fans were excited to settle down for the first episode of the second series but were left shocked by the violence
Viewers were transported back to the the brutal and gory world of Tudor England as soon as the opening credits had rolled on Sunday with the bloody depiction of Anne Boleyn’s execution
The episode began with Anne Boleyn’s execution at the hands of a French swordsman while King Henry married his third wife Jane Seymour.
The harrowing scene showed the doomed former Queen of England, played by Claire Foy, on her knees, blindfolded and sobbing before her executioner chopped off her head.
As Thomas Cromwell watched on with his son Gregory, the king is shown enjoying his new marriage, draped in gold and with a feather in his hat, smirking at his new bride.
The gory scene ends with Anne’s ladies in waiting, spattered in blood, picking up her head and loading her body into a waiting coffin.
In contrast Henry slips a wedding ring on to the finger of his new bride and Sir Thomas shakes his head and turns away fro the tragic scene.
Viewers of the Sunday night drama took to social media to share their shock at the bloody scene, calling it ‘harrowing’ and ‘traumatising’.
One fan wrote on X: ‘Still traumatised by Anne Boleyn’s execution from the last series of #wolfhall’. *Please* don’t show it again.’
Another said: ‘It’s true. No matter how much we knew it was coming, it was horrific (and great credit to Claire Foy for her portrayal of #AnneBoleyn). #WolfHall’
In contrast Henry slips a wedding ring on to the finger of his new bride and Sir Thomas shakes his head and turns away fro the tragic scene
The gory scene ends with Anne’s ladies in waiting, spattered in blood, picking up her head and loading her body in to a waiting coffin
One fan praised the graphic violence: ‘Brutal from the off. Superb. #TheMirrorAndTheLight’.
And another fan complimented the BBC, writing: ‘The opening scenes, harrowing. This is the BBC at its absolute best. #TheMirrorAndTheLight’.
But others were less than enthused by the shocking scene: ‘#TheMirrorAndTheLight The sheer brutality of capital punishment always horrifies me, even in drama’.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light picks up where the last series ended in the aftermath of the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn.
While the death of the Queen has left the King free to marry again, the politics at court are deadlier than ever before.
An isolated and increasingly desperate Thomas Cromwell, played again by Sir Mark, will stop at nothing to cling on to power, while an increasingly paranoid King Henry, again played by Homeland star Damian , is proving more difficult to please.
Viewers of the Sunday night drama took to social media to share their shock at the bloody scene, calling it ‘harrowing’ and ‘traumatising’
This bleaker tone is evident in the new trailer which features the King telling Tudor powerbroker Cromwell: ‘You have very few friends Cromwell’ and ‘always you with the bad news’. Cromwell tells one of his supporters: ‘When negotiations and compromise fail and your only course is to destroy your enemies… have the axe in your hand.’
This darker tone will reflect the reality of the period. But the show is not all blood and guts. Fans who were hooked on the sumptuous costumes, settings and locations in the first series will not be disappointed this time around.
Joanna Eatwell, the show’s costume designer, said: ‘It’s a wonderful period for the men. They look beautiful and the women are quite simple by comparison.’
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light airs on iPlayer and BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 10 November.