Wolf Hall viewers defend show after major change for season 2

Fans of the BBC's epic historical drama, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, have defended the show after a big change to the casting for season two.

The new series, which comes a decade after the first, is an adaptation of the third book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy and director Peter Kosminsky has made some changes, including the decision to implement colour-blind casting.

For the second instalment, the show has cast Egyptian-born Amir El-Masry as Thomas Wyatt, a role that was previously played by Scottish actor Jack Lowden in season one, while Lady Margery Seymour is portrayed by Sarah Priddy, who is from a mixed-heritage British-African family, and Cecilia Appiah, a British mixed-race actress, plays Seymour's sister-in-law Anne.

The decision has been somewhat controversial, with journalist Petronella Wyatt, who is an ancestor of Thomas Wyatt, saying that while Amir is a "fine actor", the decision to cast him in the role is "absurd".

While some viewers have taken issue with the historical accuracy of the casting, others defended the show and its performances following the latest episode on Sunday night.

One person penned: "It's not even noticeable …the story is the best ever written, it's the best series the BBC have ever produced - quality TV at its very highest. The lighting, the scenery, the dialogue is sublime," while another added: "Wolf Hall is excellent, properly good drama. Performances are uniformly excellent and I don't think any of the casting takes away from that."

A third person penned: "Wolf Hall just keeps getting better and better.... magnificent. The tension is ratcheting up with every scene. And Rylance is masterful."

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For those yet to tune into the new series, it stars Mark Rylance as politician Thomas Cromwell over the last four years of his life as he continues his climb to power under the reign of King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis).

It picks up where series one ended in 1536 with Anne Boleyn dead while King Henry VIII settles to "short-lived happiness" with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

The synopsis continues: "Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army. Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry having executed his queen, no one is safe.

"Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell's robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune's wheel turns, Cromwell's enemies are gathering in the shadows.

The synopsis concludes: "The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry's cruel and capricious gaze?"

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light continues on Sunday 1 December at 9pm on BBC One.