# Shardlake
**Shardlake** is a four-part British historical murder-mystery television series, first released on Disney+ on 1 May 2024, adapted from *Dissolution*, the first novel in C.J. Sansom's series of Tudor crime novels.[1](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/arthur-hughes-and-anthony-boyle-announce-1-may-release-date-for-disney%2B-original-tudor-murder-mystery-series-shardlake) It stars Arthur Hughes as Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer sent by [Thomas Cromwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-cromwell), played by [Sean Bean](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-bean), to investigate a murder at a remote monastery during the dissolution of the monasteries under [Henry VIII](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-viii).[2](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-d951f79c-856f-4102-a477-45274a09bd53) Stephen Butchard wrote the adaptation, and the series was canceled in January 2025 after one season.[3](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/shardlake-disney-series-cancelled-4952916)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | 1 May 2024, all four episodes released at once on Disney+ (Hulu in the United States)[1](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/arthur-hughes-and-anthony-boyle-announce-1-may-release-date-for-disney%2B-original-tudor-murder-mystery-series-shardlake) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/shardlake/) |
| Source | *Dissolution* (2003), the first of Sansom's seven Shardlake novels[5](https://apnews.com/article/993c6116742a7a898c6164d9f7c5616f) |
| Setting | 1536, during the dissolution of the monasteries; the fictional Benedictine monastery of Scarnsea[2](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-d951f79c-856f-4102-a477-45274a09bd53) • [6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/) |
| Main cast | Arthur Hughes (Matthew Shardlake), Sean Bean (Thomas Cromwell), Anthony Boyle (Jack Barak)[2](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-d951f79c-856f-4102-a477-45274a09bd53) |
| Reception | Metacritic metascore 70 from 14 critics; 81% on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/shardlake/) • [3](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/shardlake-disney-series-cancelled-4952916) |
| Status | Cancelled by Disney+ in January 2025 after one season[3](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/shardlake-disney-series-cancelled-4952916) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and plot
The year is 1536. Matthew Shardlake, a brilliant lawyer with what Disney's synopsis calls an acute sense of justice, is sent by Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's right-hand man, to the remote monastery of Scarnsea to investigate the murder of one of Cromwell's commissioners, and ultimately to claim the monastery's wealth for the King.[2](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-d951f79c-856f-4102-a477-45274a09bd53) The commissioner had been gathering evidence to close the monastery, and Cromwell's own political survival depends on Shardlake both solving the murder and shutting the institution down; he insists that Shardlake take Jack Barak along, a man whose true role, assistant or spy, remains uncertain to Shardlake.[1](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/arthur-hughes-and-anthony-boyle-announce-1-may-release-date-for-disney%2B-original-tudor-murder-mystery-series-shardlake)
The investigation proceeds through classic procedural beats: examining the body, reading the crime scene, analyzing clues, checking alibis, and gathering the suspects for a breakdown of the crime.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-04-30/shardlake-review-cj-sansom-hulu) It becomes clear that the death under investigation is not the first, and Shardlake faces hostility and suspicion from monks who fear for their future.[2](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-d951f79c-856f-4102-a477-45274a09bd53) The four episodes build to an ultimatum from Cromwell, furious at Shardlake's lack of results, and a discovery about the history of the murder weapon.[8](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/shardlake/umc.cmc.5vas58hdwcc9sma5z6xrk91kb)
## Cast and production
Arthur Hughes, of the [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company), plays Shardlake; [Anthony Boyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-boyle) plays Barak; and Sean Bean plays Cromwell.[6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/) Among those in supporting roles are Babou Ceesay playing Abbot Fabian, Paul Kaye in the part of Brother Jerome, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis as Alice Fewterer, Peter Firth taking on Norfolk, Matthew Steer as Goodhap, and Brian Vernel in the role of Brother Mortimus.[1](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/arthur-hughes-and-anthony-boyle-announce-1-may-release-date-for-disney%2B-original-tudor-murder-mystery-series-shardlake)
**Behind the camera.** Stephen Butchard, previously the adapter of [Bernard Cornwell](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernard-cornwell)'s Saxon Stories for *The Last Kingdom*, wrote the scripts, Justin Chadwick directed, and The Forge produced with executive producers including George Ormond, Mark Pybus, Stevie Lee, and Lee Mason.[6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/) • [9](https://www.theviewersguide.com/tvreference/shardlake-223599) Production took place in Hungary, Austria, and Romania.[10](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/shardlake-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) The Los Angeles Times noted that the series was partially filmed in [Transylvania](https://www.edgepedia.org/transylvania), whose monastery locations dominate the landscape "like something from an old horror movie."[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-04-30/shardlake-review-cj-sansom-hulu)
## Disability representation
Shardlake's disability is central to the character. In Sansom's books he has a deformed spine, and unkind characters call him "crookback"; the series gives him scoliosis affecting the shape of his spine, which Hughes played wearing a prosthesis.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-04-30/shardlake-review-cj-sansom-hulu) • [6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/) Hughes, who was born with radial dysplasia and has a foreshortened right arm, said the role was a win for disabled characters: "We don't see a lot of leading disabled characters... Well, we might, but they might not be played by disabled actors."[11](https://apnews.com/article/90ccdd9d7332e0741098411733f03c12) In 2022 he had been celebrated as the first disabled actor to play Richard III on stage for the Royal Shakespeare Company.[6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/) The Tudor world's prejudice isolates the character, and a childhood flashback shows how it changed the direction of his life, though Hughes has said disability is far from the most important part of Shardlake's character; that is his conscience as a truth-seeking man in a cut-throat world.[6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/)
## The source novels and their author
C.J. Sansom introduced Matthew Shardlake in *Dissolution*, published in 2003, a murder mystery set against Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries; its combination of detective story and historical detail won critical acclaim, and he went on to write six more Shardlake novels.[5](https://apnews.com/article/993c6116742a7a898c6164d9f7c5616f) Sansom, born in Edinburgh in 1952, held a doctorate in history and trained as a solicitor before becoming a full-time writer; over 3 million copies of his books were in print, and in 2022 he won the Crime Writers' Association's Diamond Dagger Award.[5](https://apnews.com/article/993c6116742a7a898c6164d9f7c5616f) He died on 27 April 2024, aged 71, four days before the series premiered, while working on a Shardlake novel titled *Ratcliff*.[5](https://apnews.com/article/993c6116742a7a898c6164d9f7c5616f) • [12](https://jammuuniversity.ac.in/sites/default/files/inline-files/In%2520English%2520%252027-6-2024.pdf) A proposed BBC adaptation with [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenneth-branagh) attached had been considered but never made.[6](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/)
## Reception and cancellation
Critics received the series favorably. Metacritic recorded a metascore of 70, "Generally Favorable," based on 14 critic reviews, with 10 positive and 4 mixed, and a user score of 6.9 from 20 ratings.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/shardlake/) NationalWorld reported 81% on Rotten Tomatoes among critics and 77% audience approval.[3](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/shardlake-disney-series-cancelled-4952916) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) scored it 83 and praised the tight four-episode storytelling while noting it felt over too quickly; the Los Angeles Times called Hughes's performance potentially star-making.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/shardlake/) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-04-30/shardlake-review-cj-sansom-hulu) [The Wall Street Journal](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wall-street-journal) found the political profile of early 16th-century England nuanced but the dialogue overheated.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/shardlake/)
Disney+ confirmed in January 2025 that the show would not return for a second series, thanking Butchard, the cast led by Hughes, and production partners The Forge and Runaway Fridge; Anthony Boyle confirmed the news on Instagram.[3](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/shardlake-disney-series-cancelled-4952916) The series later aired on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.[10](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/shardlake-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
## References
1. [Arthur Hughes and Anthony Boyle announce 1 May release date for Disney+ Original Tudor murder-mystery series "Shardlake", Disney+ UK Press](https://press.disney.co.uk/news/arthur-hughes-and-anthony-boyle-announce-1-may-release-date-for-disney%2B-original-tudor-murder-mystery-series-shardlake)
2. [Shardlake, Disney+ (series page)](https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-d951f79c-856f-4102-a477-45274a09bd53)
3. [Shardlake: Fans gutted as Disney confirms Sean Bean murder-mystery series won't be returning for series two, NationalWorld](https://www.nationalworld.com/culture/television/shardlake-disney-series-cancelled-4952916)
4. [Shardlake Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/shardlake/)
5. [C.J. Sansom, bestselling British author of Tudor crime thriller series, dies at 71, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/993c6116742a7a898c6164d9f7c5616f)
6. [Shardlake Review: Sinister and Satisfying Tudor-Set Murder Mystery, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shardlake-review-tudor-set-murder-mystery/)
7. ['Shardlake' review: C.J. Sansom's Tudor-era murder mystery, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-04-30/shardlake-review-cj-sansom-hulu)
8. [Shardlake, Apple TV (episode guide)](https://tv.apple.com/us/show/shardlake/umc.cmc.5vas58hdwcc9sma5z6xrk91kb)
9. [Shardlake TV Series, The Viewers Guide](https://www.theviewersguide.com/tvreference/shardlake-223599)
10. [Shardlake: ITV release date, plot, cast, and more, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/shardlake-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know)
11. ['Shardlake' is a Tudor-era mystery series. It's also a win for disabled characters, its star says, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/90ccdd9d7332e0741098411733f03c12)
12. [In English, 27 June 2024 (obituary notice for C.J. Sansom), Jammu University](https://jammuuniversity.ac.in/sites/default/files/inline-files/In%2520English%2520%252027-6-2024.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Literary and classic serial adaptations › Thriller and crime adaptations › Premiered 2024 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license