The series<\/a>, which is based on the novels by CJ Sansom<\/a>, is set during the dissolution of the monasteries<\/a>, and sees Thomas Cromwell tasking lawyer Matthew Shardlake with finding a murderer at monastery St Donatus.<\/p>\n Not only does Cromwell want justice served, but he also wants a legitimate reason found for him to close the monastery and acquire its wealth for the public purse.<\/p>\n Speaking at a recent Q&A for the series, Butchard explained why he felt the series was relevant today, saying: \u201cWe don\u2019t change. This is the 16th century, but the same things are going on today.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the dissolution of the monasteries, the money was supposedly going for the benefit of the common people, but that didn\u2019t happen, it ended up in the hands of the king and Cromwell. And that happens today. Contracts [\u2026] end up going to friends of [politicians], and fast-tracks and stuff like that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not change, politicians don\u2019t change. But the good thing also is that there are always good people and that\u2019s what this is about. This is about good men, good women, it\u2019s about the good people just as much as it is about the villainous people.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cThat\u2019s why I was attracted to it, it was about portraying a really good man in Shardlake, and the people around him are good. Even when we get to know the monks as well, you see a real different side to them. Brother Gabriel comes out with a wonderful argument about a life devoted to God, and it\u2019s a really nice moment, and you buy that moment.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo there is a whole load of hope within the characters, but the situations do not change, and will never change probably because we as people \u2013 it takes millions of years for us to change, actually, and that is not gonna happen over a few hundred years.\u201d<\/p> Cromwell is played in the series by Sean Bean<\/a>, who told RadioTimes.com<\/a> that he was drawn to the role because of how \u201cmischievous\u201d, \u201d ruthless\u201d and \u201ccreepy<\/a>\u201d he was.<\/p>\n Shardlake season 1 is available to stream in full on Disney Plus. You can\u00a0sign up to Disney Plus for \u00a34.99 a month or \u00a379.90 a year<\/a>\u00a0now.<\/strong><\/p>\n [squirrel-affiliate-playlist squirrel_playlist_id=\u201d612\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n “This is the 16th century, but the same things are going on today.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\"This is the 16th century, but the same things are going on today.\"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/50701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Babou](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/04\/SLEP301407-a2a89ae.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Shardlake\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"