MEET THE MEDIEVAL MORSE
‘I was drawn to Shardlake... this is a disabled leading man and there really aren’t very many of them’
The death of historical novelist CJ Sansom just days before the arrival of a long-awaited TV adaptation of his Shardlake series seems especially unfair. But the four-part detective drama from Disney+, which begins streaming today, represents a fitting tribute, writes JAMES RAMPTON
WHEN the fictional Tudor barrister-cum-detective Matthew Shardlake first appeared in CJ Sansom’s 2003 debut novel, Dissolution, he was instantly dubbed the “Medieval Morse”. There could be no higher accolade for a fictional sleuth. That first book from historical novelist Sansom, whose death at the age of 71 was announced on Monday, became an overnight bestseller.
Colin Dexter, the late creator of the aforementioned Inspector Morse, described it as “extraordinarily impressive”.
And as Sansom developed the character of Shardlake over another six compulsive and meticulously researched novels, he went on to receive further richly deserved acclaim. And along the way, he also sold four million copies.
The author was his late 40s when an inheritance enabled him to give up his job as a solicitor for a year to write fiction. His twin interests were crime novels and the Tudor dynasty. By combining the two, he reinvigorated historical crime fiction.
His peers were particularly complimentary. PD James said of Sansom’s work: “Remarkable. The sights, the voices, the very smell of this turbulent age seem to rise from the page”.
For her part, Philippa Gregory, another highly regarded historical novelist, wrote: “CJ Sansom has created a convincingly realistic Tudor detective in Matthew Shardlake. He lives and breathes in an utterly convincing world, drawing the reader into the darker corners of history.”
Sansom (the CJ stands for Christopher John) won the 2022 Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for his outstanding contribution to the genre.
At the time, Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA, declared: “CJ Sansom has proven himself to be the modern master of the historical thriller. He weaves a web of compelling reality around his characters and brings the past to life like no other.”
So it is a really sad irony that the author’s death after a long struggle with cancer was announced just two days before the transmission of the first, keenly anticipated TV adaptation of Shardlake. Filmed in Hungary, Austria and Romania and being shown on Disney+, the drama is based on Dissolution – set during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
THE drama has been a long time coming. For two decades, there have been attempts to transfer Sansom’s enormously successful novels to the small screen. Kenneth Branagh was for a long time attached to one television version.
As Sansom’s agent, Antony Topping, puts it: “It is an extraordinarily strange coincidence that Chris has died only a handful of days before a new generation of fans will meet Matthew Shardlake for the first time through the Disney+ adaptation of Dissolution.”
The four-part drama introduces us to Shardlake (played by Arthur Hughes, of Netflix series The Innocents).
While steering a tricky path through the controversial religious reforms demanded by Henry VIII, the detective has to crack crimes. At the same time, he must avoid becoming embroiled in the often-deadly political intrigue of the age. The recalcitrant Shardlake, who is ostracised because he has curvature of the spine, is obliged to become a detective by Henry VIII’s allpowerful and rather menacing enforcer Thomas Cromwell, played by Sean Bean. In the first episode, Shardlake’s secluded life as a lawyer is turned upside down when Cromwell orders him to investigate the murder of Robin Singleton, one of his commissioners, at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea.There, Shardlake clashes with an independentminded infirmary worker called Alice (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis). Bean says he was drawn to this project because he has long been a huge fan of Sansom’s work. “I’ve always been interested in the medieval and Tudor eras and history in general. I read the books about 14 years ago when I was in Norway for work,” he says. “There were only three books back then, but I read them avidly. CJ Sansom is a brilliant writer and wonderful observer of the human condition, of people’s hopes and fears. So when this came up, I was obviously very interested.”
The actor adds: “I love the intelligence in Sansom’s writing. There’s just so much going on and so many underlying themes.
“It’s not just about a lawyer turned detective trying to find a murderer – it’s a commentary on a critical time in history.”
Hughes, who has radial dysplasia affecting his right arm and has also played Richard III at the Royal Shakespeare Company, weighs in with what attracted him to the drama.
“Firstly, I was drawn to Shardlake because this is a disabled leading man, and there really aren’t very many of them,” he says.
“This is not a character who is self-loath
‘The more I read about the Tudor period, the more I realised how like the 20th century it was in its anxiety’
ing in his disability or encumbered so much by his disability. It has its limits, but he’s still a man of authority, strength, power, truth and justice.” The actor continues: “What I loved was that we have a character who is clearly disabled, but it’s one of the least interesting things about him.
“The more I went to the scripts and the books and figured out who Shardlake is, the more I realised there are just so many reasons to fall in love with him.”
The fact that Shardlake is evidently smarter than everyone else also appealed to Hughes. “It’s like a medieval cop show. Playing a detective is great, especially when you’re the cleverest person in the room, which Shardlake often is. He knows that and he likes to play on that.
“Being the one who’s figured it all out and who’s waiting for everyone else to catch up is a lot of fun. That’s why we like detective shows – we all like to be the detective.”And Shardlake is a particularly effective sleuth because he is a perennial outsider – a characteristic Sansom shared after suffering severe bullying at school in Edinburgh.
Executive Producer Stevie Lee, who worked with the author for 20 years to translate his novels to TV, says: “I was diagnosed with autism when I was at university.
“I think, on a very personal level, the books really mattered to me because I was able to completely identify with being on the outside and watching people.That is part of Shardlake’s skill.”
Shardlake is the latest drama to emphasise our continuing fascination with Henry VIII and his entourage. There is also great buzz around the forthcoming second series of Wolf Hall, BBC2’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s bestselling Tudor-set novels.
Meanwhile, a stage version of Gregory’s highly successful novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Alex Kingston, is currently running in Chichester. In addition, SIX The Musical, about Henry VIII’s wives, has been a hit show on both sides of the Atlantic.
Why do writers keep returning to this period, then? And do the political upheavals which Henry VIII’s court was constantly enduring make the perfect setting for detective drama? Sansom clearly thought so.
“I’m drawn to it because it’s the moment at which the medieval certainties that had endured for centuries were turned upside down,” he said. “It was a time of extraordinary ferment: in the space of a few years, the state took on a completely different meaning.”
The Shardlake novels – and likely the new drama – also chime with people today due to the striking contemporary resonance of their themes. Sansom said: “The more I read about the Tudor period, the more I realised how like the 20th century it was in its anxiety and uncertainty, even though people thought so differently then. Political plotting is eternal and HenryVIII inserts himself into the lives of his subjects in a way that no English monarch ever had. “Spin takes on a new lease of life under Henry and Cromwell.”
Stephen Butchard, who wrote the scripts for Shardlake and also adapted for the screen The Last Kingdom, another cycle of widely loved historical novels by Bernard Cornwell, also identifies the strong parallels between then and now.
“Although these stories are set in Tudor England, the themes absolutely engage and resonate with today’s world. Hundreds of years may have past, but humankind and what makes us tick has changed little.”
Ashbourne Serkis concurs. “Even though it’s set in the 1500s, the relationships and the way that people speak to each other don’t feel old. Shardlake combines really accurate historical drama with murder mystery, but also feels contemporary.
“It doesn’t feel dated. It feels very modern and fresh. The characters, as much as they are monks in the 1500s, are relatable.”
SHE continues: “It’s not lots of people speaking in old English, which is difficult to understand. Viewers will be able to see themselves in the characters, and that isn’t always the case with historical dramas.This feels very now.”
Antony Topping closes by expressing the hope that the new series will be a fitting tribute to a wonderful and much-lamented writer. “This is a moment Chris’s established fans have long been waiting for.
“Chris was so proud of all the work and determination that went into bringing the novels to our television screens, which I hope will bring an entirely new audience to the books and maybe also inspire some old fans to return to their favourite CJ Sansom novels.”
In an emotional coda, his agent concludes: “So long, Chris. I was lucky to know you.”