Is Wolf Hall historically accurate?

Wolf Hall is almost at its conclusion, bringing the tumultuous history of Thomas Cromwell as chief advisor to Henry VIII to a dramatic close.

The BBC drama is based on Hilary Mantel's historical fiction series of the same name, with the second season charting Cromwell's (Mark Rylance) fall from grace following the execution of Anne Boleyn. It tells his story against the backdrop of Tudor history, but has sometimes been called out over its accuracy.

So how historically accurate is the show? Let's take a deep dive into Mantel's work to find out.

Hilary Mantel did years of research

Before she wrote the first of her Cromwell novels, Mantel spent five years researching the mad who would become the lead character of her story. What was important for the author was also to figure out exactly how the Tudors lived in order to create a story that would be immersive for the reader too.

In BBC documentary Return to Wolf Hall, Mantel said: "There's the historical record but just as important is the context, so you need a knowledge of everyday life. The Tudors are in many ways like us but in many ways very alien.

"Your job is to work out which bit is which and then think how you can mediate this for the everyday reader. You have to undergo a process that's immersive and can take quite a long time... you have to go live in a world where probably the loudest sound people have heard is thunder or church bells. A world before the fog of industrial pollution... you can't shed your 21st century self entirely but you can make yourself the creature of the book."

Speaking in 2012 at the Edinburgh international book festival Mantel also addressed the challenges of making a historical novel like Wolf Hall, and she said: "It's a big ask, to give the reader all the background information and all the foreground information and make the characters work as well. What I am trying to do is to write as I would in any other novel, so that it has a literary quality as well as, I hope, a historical quality."

She went on: "I don't see why you should compromise. In writing a historical novel you use all the tricks you have learned on diverse subject matter and use all the techniques you bring to novels of contemporary life."

Read more:

As Wolf Hall reaches its endgame, how did Thomas Cromwell die?

The best Tudor movies and TV shows to watch if you like Wolf Hall

As Wolf Hall explores Henry VIII's quest for an heir, how many children did he have?

The Wolf Hall novels are not entirely accurate to history as they are, after all, a fictionalised account of the life and rise to power of Cromwell. While Mantel keeps to historical events as much as possible she included some fictional characters.

How historically accurate is the Wolf Hall TV series?

A lot has been made of the historical accuracy of the BBC adaptation of Mantel's novels, with the show being mostly commended for its interpretation of the past.

However aspects like Anne Boleyn's execution in the first season received particular scrutiny. For example, while historians commended the inclusion of the detail that the queen was killed by a French swordsmaster, they criticised the fact that her final speech in the series was much shorter than historical records show she had.

Wolf Hall's historical advisor Catherine Fletcher said in 2015 that the series had to take liberties with the real story otherwise it would make for a fairly boring watch. Fletcher explained: "If I know one thing about early modern history, it’s that there are as many interpretations of it as there are historians.

"I also know that even when historians agree, accurate history rarely makes for excellent drama. A film-maker who tried for an ‘accurate’ version of the complexity of Tudor court politics would lose the audience within minutes. Compromise is essential."

The historian added that the beauty of a TV show is that it can do things that history books can't, it can transport viewers fully into the Tudor period: "If television can’t be as precise as an academic book in full footnoted glory, it has other strengths. Television and film can visualise the past. The portrayals of Henry VIII on screen have done much to challenge the iconic Holbein propaganda image painted relatively late in the king’s reign."

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light ends on Sunday, 15 December at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.