Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Arthur Hughes, Anthony Boyle, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Sean Bean, Matthew Steer, Joe Barber, Miles Barrow, Babou Ceesay, Paul Kaye, Mike Noble, David Pearse, Irfan Shamji, Brian Vernal, Michael Rivers, Tadhg Murphy, Peter Firth, Alex Bhatt, Ken Nwosu, Louis Goodwin, Kimberley Nixon.
The historical novel is nothing new, but the further we move away from certain periods of time the more we can glean of its importance to the period, to the age, that our ancestors had to cope with, the struggles placed upon the fledgling societies of the day which have been traditionally written from the top down, and how the hidden person could actually thread the narrative in such a way that they become the cause celebre, the hero of a tale usually reserved for those dressed in finer clothes, whose choice of politics and religion is driven not by power, but by design.
The pity of the television serial Shardlake only comes with the knowledge that its creator, the Scottish born writer C.J. Sansom died just days short of seeing the reaction of the audience to his work being on screen.
It is a testament, a justification of the artist’s work that the four-part drama will be thought of in the future as a prime example of how incredible the character of Matthew Shardlake is in relation to how we view those within history’s grasp, and how cunning and intuitive a disabled person can be at a time when history shunned even those with minor afflictions.
Set against the Dissolution of the Church and the Catholic monasteries by King Hery VIII and taking its lead from the first novel in the series, Dissolution, the grimness, and fear of the period is beautifully captured by the detective tale weaved between the undercurrent of one of British history’s more damning rhetoric and hate filled condemnations of diverse thought and praise.
The period of the Tudors is fascinating for the amateur historian, the seismic alteration of state is arguably one to which narrative can be interpretated more freely compared to say that of the rigid Victorian era that would eventually come to pass, and which despairingly still fuels in the background today’s attitude to the demand of change, and that of what came before in the darker days of recorded history. Shardlake understands that almost instinctively, even down to the nuance of secrets and lies of the titular character’s occupation and that of those who control his movements and investigation, Cromwell and Norfolk, played with delicious intensity by Sean Bean and Peter Firth respectively.
It is though to Arthur Hughes as the eponymous Shardlake, and superb support of Anthony Boyle, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, and Matthew Steer that the drama is given its upmost sincerity, a murder investigated in a period where only the drawing of truth like a splinter from the skin is enough to quell the calls of conspiracy, to bring justice to a world lacking in its own legitimacy.
In a world short on dignity and honour, to see a writer’s force on screen after their untimely passing is a privilege, an award for their presence, and to C.J. Sansom the distinction of being one of the modern greats of historical fiction is a mark of respect to the man, to his work, to Shardlake.
Ian D. Hall