Wolf Hall

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Mark Rylance

Damian Lewis

Claire Foy

Jonathan Pryce

Bernard Hill

Anton Lesser

Mark Gatiss

Mathieu Amalric

Joanne Whalley

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Harry Lloyd

Jessica Raine

Saskia Reeves

Charity Wakefield

Natasha Little

Joss Porter

Kate Phillips

Robert Wilfort

Richard Dillane

Luke Roberts

Max Fowler

David Robb

Emilia Jones

Athena Droutis

Mary Jo Randle

Peter Straughan

Mark Pybus

Peter Kosminsky

Wolf Hall: Episode 1: Three Card Trick

Three Card Trick

Episode 1

Episode 1: Three Card Trick

BBC Two - Wolf Hall, Three Card Trick

Lacking a male heir, the king is desperate to annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon.

Historical drama chronicling Thomas Cromwell's rise to power. Lacking a male heir, King Henry VIII is desperate to annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon.

Thomas Cromwell's patron Cardinal Wolsey is dismissed as lord chancellor and forced to flee his palace at York Place. The old noble families of England, jealous of their own right to advise the king, have long waited for this moment.  His hopes of returning to the king's favour lie with the ever-loyal Thomas Cromwell.

Eight years ago, when Cromwell started working for Wolsey, the cardinal made an enemy of Thomas Boleyn by chastising him for his daughter Anne's far-from-virtuous reputation. As rumours circulated in court that Anne was secretly betrothed to Harry Percy, the cardinal insisted that no such match would be allowed.

Still lacking a male heir, the king is desperate for an annulment from his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, claiming she was not a virgin on their wedding day. To Cromwell's dismay, the cardinal's efforts to persuade the pope to grant the annulment are fruitless. An alliance between the pope and Katherine's nephew, the holy Roman emperor, diminishes the cardinal's position even further.

As Henry grows impatient, the pressure increases on the cardinal. To add to this, rumours reach the cardinal that the king's new mistress is Anne Boleyn, who has sworn vengeance on him over Harry Percy.

Cromwell visits Anne, urging her that only the cardinal can secure what she wants, but Anne is unmoved. The duke of Norfolk, nervous of the cardinal's continuing proximity to the king, insists that Cromwell tell Wolsey to travel north to his archdiocese in York. A desperate Cromwell finally meets directly with Henry, but the king is nothing if not ambiguous. Will he recall the cardinal or turn on him?

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Drama: Historical

Historical drama chronicling Thomas Cromwell's rise to power in the court of Henry VIII.

Historical drama chronicling the rise of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a humble blacksmith who became King Henry VIII's chief minister, as he navigated the corridors of power in the Tudor court.

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Episode 1: Three Card Trick

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