Shardlake

Matt Roush says...

One of the best literary mystery series finally finds its way to TV in an adaptation of the Tudor-era novels by C.J. Sansom (who died Saturday at 71). The four-episode season dramatizes Dissolution, the first volume. The protagonist: principled lawyer Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes), a social outcast who’s considered a “crookback” because of his scoliosis. He’s charged by King Henry VIII’s powerful advisor Thomas Cromwell (Game of Thrones’ Sean Bean) to investigate a murder at a rural monastery that the royal government wants dissolved and closed. The monks greet Shardlake with understandable suspicion, and the lawyer isn’t sure he can trust his assigned companion Jack Barak (Anthony Boyle, on a roll with high-profile roles in Masters of the Air and Manhunt), who he suspects is spying for Cromwell.

What's Worth Watching (May 1)