Wolf Hall

I think it gets even better as it goes on- I think it is beautifully done. I have read the books which probably helps.

It is really good isn't it. I feel quite relaxed after watching it, it goes at such a leisurely pace, but full of intrigue, terrible time to live in though, would never know who your friends were!

I think it's beautifully done and very relaxing to watch, but I'm not sure that I like all the women fawning over Thomas!

I guess that's just to show how women are attracted to powerful men, and perhaps explains why they are drawn to positions of power that could potentially end up being beheaded. Then again, it could just be to 'sex it up' for the American market.

Did anyone watch the Melvyn Bragg programme about Tindall that was on before Wolf Hall? I only caught the end of it but it was very relevant and interesting.

I can't bear Wolf Hall - book or TV. I just don't believe in either Mantel's or Rylance's Cromwell. I certainly don't believe all the women would be fawning over him. And will someone please buy some combs for the women? More's daughter Meg had a most unlikely messy short haircut.

Young girls generally get messy hair. Women always fawn over powerful men-they do today.

Perhaps someone who has read the book more recently than I did could put me right, but I don't recall Mary Boleyn throwing herself at Cromwell. Did I skip a couple of pages somewhere? I'm enjoying this series on the whole, but last night I detected a touch if "we've got to get two books into one TV series - how are we going do it?" It suddenly seemed to have an element of fast forward about it.

DH nodded off and woke up when Anne Boleyn was being laid face down in front of the altar.

'Oh, are they chopping her head off now? Is it nearly over?'

You can tell he's loving it!

She (Mary Boleyn) did go out of her way to flirt with Cromwell in the book.

I think it's been on fast-forward from the start. Just a flashback to the cruelties of his father, and his subsequent sea trips completely missed out. Only the tapestry to mention that he'd been on his travels when he was young. I think he was into fighting. A soldier I think.

That was mentioned in episode one [his past]. In fact, what is fascinating about his portrayal of Cromwell is that he appears on the surface to be such a gentle man but he has the reactions of a soldier [eg in the scene with Mary Boleyn when her other bloke turns up unexpectedly]. Y'don'tmesswiththisbloke!

I've been trying to discipline myself into watching it. Managed the first episode but..........!

Had two or three goes with the book with a similar result.

I shall have to come to terms with being a lightweight!

I enjoy historical dramas - well some - but there seems to be a lot of standing still and thinking going on in this one. I would like a little more clarification of who is who so I know why Cromwell is always in deep thought. Because of the costume style and candle light some of the characters look alike to me.

I missed last night's episode as I was out.

However, shall I bother with any more? - I know the ending already but I won't tell!

One question it may answer that I don't know the answer to - if someone was beheaded were they allowed a Christian burial (papist or protestant) and did they bury the head with the body?
I don't mean to be gruesome but I wondered if they had some sort of ritual which perpetuated the disgrace after death?

They stuck the heads up in conspicuous positions - city gates, for instance. Not sure what happened after that.

And then, of course, if you were a saint your bones [ie relics] would be stuck in as many holy places as possible ....

I expect the flesh was eaten by scavenging birds/animals and the skull eventually fell off and was kicked about and/or trampled on until it disintegrated...

Sir Thomas More's head was stuck on a spike on London Bridge, but his daughter Margaret bribed the bridge keeper to get it down. She is said to have pickled it and kept it at home (dear God! the things some people have in their kitchen cupboards!). When she died, it was buried with her. More's headless body, along with those of Cromwell, Ann Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Jane Grey and others, was buried in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in the grounds of the Tower. Another bit of useless information from yours truly!

Anne Boleyn was buried in the church of St Peter Ad Vincula in the Tower - with her head. Apparently no one had thought further than the execution and there was no coffin so she was put in a storage chest for arrows.

The heads of traitors were boiled before they were stuck on poles so that they would last longer.

Which presumably is the origin of the Scottish sAying
"Awa an bile yer heid!"

Not too sure about that Soutra the Scots say a lot of things.....

A lot of them unprintaable, and most of them indecipherable!

I like the way that Wolf Hall is filmed, a bit darkly but not too much[not like Jamaica Inn.] We would all look better 'in the dark with a light behind us'.Especially today, as I am having a bad hair day and 2 spots have popped up.

OMG roses. Keep an eye on those spots.

#bubonicplague,smallpox.

I absolutely love it and think its well done. I've always liked the Tudor period and have read both books I think Mantel is a brilliant writer an academic storyteller. Can't wait for the next one. I usually record them on the sky planner and watch it at a different time, I do that with most things I'm interested in don't ever seem to watch live TV anymore as I work erratic hours.