The Shardlake Plays - CJ Sansom

Category: Adults, Full Cast, Historical Fiction, Radio Productions
Language: English
Keywords: Historical Fiction Radio Drama

Written by CJ Sansom
Read by Jason Watkins, Ian Bonnar, Justin Salinger, Bryan Dick
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Dramatization

C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake series is a set of historical mystery novels set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century.

The series’ protagonist is the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures by Mark Poer and then Jack Barak. Shardlake works on commission initially from Thomas Cromwell in Dissolution and Dark Fire, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation, and Queen Catherine Parr in Heartstone.

BBC Radio 4 has adapted novels in the Shardlake series for its 15-Minute Drama programme. In 2012, Dissolution was adapted into a radio serial starring Jason Watkins as Shardlake and Mark Bonnar as Cromwell. They later broadcast Dark Fire in 2014, with Justin Salinger taking over the role of Shardlake and Bryan Dick playing Barak, Sovereign in 2015, Revelation in 2017, Heartstone in 2018, and Lamentation in 2021, all adapted by Colin MacDonald as 10-part serials.