In the series, which has already started filming in Hungary, Austria and Romania, Hughes (seen in character above) will play Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer with an acute sense of justice and one of the few honest men in a world beset with scheming and plots.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Bean will play Thomas Cromwell, Shardlake\u2019s employer and the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII. Shardlake has unwavering loyalty to Cromwell and the Crown, but as a person living with scoliosis during the Tudor period he is abused as a \u2018crookback\u2019 wherever he turns.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/03\/Shardlake-7e53bba.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Other central cast members announced as joining the series include Anthony Boyle (Tetris<\/a>) as Jack Barak, Babou Ceesay (Wolfe) as Abbot Fabian, Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones<\/a>) as Brother Jerome, and Ruby Ashbourne Serkis (The Greatest Beer Run Ever) as Alice.<\/p>\n The official synopsis for the series says: \u201cDrenched in mystery, suspense and deception, this four-part drama, based on the first novel in Sansom\u2019s series, is an eerie whodunnit adventure, set in 16th century England during the dissolution of the monasteries.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cShardlake\u2019s sheltered life as a lawyer is turned upside down when Cromwell instructs him to investigate the murder of one of his commissioners at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea.\u201d<\/p>\n It continues: \u201cThe commissioner was gathering evidence to close the monastery and it is now imperative for Cromwell\u2019s own political survival that Shardlake both solves the murder and closes the monastery. He leaves Shardlake in no doubt that failure is not an option.<\/p>\n \u201cCromwell insists that he is accompanied by cocky, good-looking Jack Barak and Shardlake is left unsure whether Barak is an assistant, or Cromwell\u2019s spy. At Scarnsea, the duo are met with hostility, suspicion and paranoia by the monks who fear for their future and will seemingly stop at nothing to preserve their order.\u201d<\/p>