Wolf Hall followup...

read our reviews and share a few more wonderful comments with us....

Emma starts first.

 So tonight I am glad to say is better than last week, no Birthdays and watching the clock..... Instead this week I was rooted to the sofa for 9pm until I realised I had actually forgot to put my kids to bed (awful mother I hear you say, putting Damian before your own kids!) Well yes I guess I did. So I paused the TV - thank god for Virgin Tivo box.
So at 9.10 I sat back down to Episode 2 of Wolf Hall, Entirely Beloved and was very happy to see Henry in the first scene rather than having to wait for the last five minutes last week.  Mark Rylance I think this week was even better as Thomas Cromwell and his character is brilliant, I totally enjoyed how him and Henry are forming a relationship, I also enjoyed the scene with Henry in his bedroom in the middle of the night when had though he had seen his dead brother, I felt the Henry character remind me of a typical Damian Lewis character, in a good great way of course, but that similar I thought of how Brody used to look once lost and unsure, however my co partner and friend said that he had reminded her of Soams and I actually think she has nailed it.  The rest of the episode was showing the death of Cardianl Wolsey and seeing Thomas Cromwell being sworn in.  As for the Character of Henry, well Damian, floppy hats off to you, you make a brilliant Henry and I am so looking forward to the rest of the series.  However next Wednesday I will have to once again clock watch as I am meant to be out with a friend! Wonder if shell think I am rude if I bring my ipad and watch it hahahah - see there is a bit of evil Henry in all of us.

and now me.-)

I posted reviews here on the site yesterday saying words like “a triumph and totally magnificent” 

And I couldn’t agree more!!

The second episode shows the characters find their roles and Cromwell shows some

devilish moves and thoughts coming on the surface.

Mark Rylance is undoubted the central figure and he inhabits Cromwell to perfection.

But in this piece everyone acts in perfection and you can’t praise cast director and writer enough.

This is a Damian Lewis Fan Blog so let’s talk about…Henry!!

I am sure I have mentioned it here before I am not a fan who runs around with two red hearts in the eyes finding everything amazing and perfect even before I have seen a thing. I am generally a quite critical person and there have been things or performances of him I didn’t like so much.

I think that’s fair and normal and believe me…that happened very very rarely J

But Wolf Hall and especially his never before seen kind of Henry captured me in the first minute he 

entered the screen. He shows a new Henry and makes it his Henry!!

I loved the episode and his chemistry with Rylance is outstanding.my absolute highlight

was the bedroom scene. A slight devastated King shows a touch of weakness and doubts

and lets face it no one else can play a man who suffers under the surface so well as Damian Lewis

but he also showed a King who really needs advisers around him.

But the look on his face in this scene was perfection and showed an actor who even grew more

and more over the years.  This is nothing to boast with but I have almost seen every film and every series and every little thing Damian Lewis was in and he was always a very good actor who

inhabits characters and command the scenery and he get better and better and he is not afraid to take risks and being Henry is a high risk and being a new and never seen before Henry is an even bigger risk but it works and it works perfectly and reading all the comments every week make me kind of proud as my Darling Emma calls me “a proud Mum” lol yes I am proud and happy because Damian Lewis is a versatile and outstanding actor and gives a figure of history an untold story back.

That is what I call perfection

Wolf Hall is a masterpiece and Damian Lewis is part of it and the complete caste deserve the praises!! Thanks for such a brilliance!! 

"I quite like that Damian Lewis plays Henry in a way that makes you feel that he could go utterly mental at any given point."

"Damian Lewis is chilling as the King"

"Something about Damian Lewis as Henry VIII really really works for me."

"Damian Lewis is a wonderful as Henry"

and ten things we learned from episode two: source The Evening Standard

It’s all going on in Tudor England tonight in the second episode of Wolf Hall: Entirely Beloved. Cardinal Wolsey has finally popped his clogs, Thomas Cromwell has joined the King’s Privy Council and Mary Boleyn made a pass at Thomas. But what did we glean from the second instalment of the Hilary Mantel adaptation?

1. Thomas is a bit of a schemer

It turns out that the hero of Wolf Hall can be manipulative when he has to be. Watching him 'interpret' Henry’s dream tonight is the first hint of Machiavellian guile from the lawyer. What will he be up to next?

2. Anne Boleyn is smarter than she seems

It’s safe to say that the scheming queen-in-waiting has Henry wrapped around her little finger. Not only is she holding off sleeping with him but she’s threatening to leave him if he doesn’t get that annulment soon. Women do hold more power than we realise in this period. She is ultimately responsible for Henry breaking away from the Catholic Church (that’s not a spoiler).

3. Henry isn’t as smart as Anne

Not only does he accept Cromwell’s interpretation of his dream, featuring his dead brother Arthur, but he is bending to the will of Anne. It seems as if this king is being manipulated by everyone. He’s going to cotton sooner or later, right? If the history books are anything to go by, heads are set to roll…

4. Mary Boleyn realises she should have been smarter

The poor old sister of Anne realises that she missed a trick with Henry VIII. Instead of becoming his mistress, she could have been the Queen of England. Oh dear. She’s a bit of a sorry sight when she makes a pass at Cromwell, who duly turns her down for her own good. She’s a fascinating figure, playing second fiddle to her sister, and it’s going to be interesting seeing how she develops.

5. Thomas is actually quite an enlightened man

During the archery scene, Cromwell defends the idea of a women sitting on the throne. Who would have thought he would have supported women’s rights? As we start to get into Wolf Hall, there is more underlying feminism there than we realised.

6. Apparently, you can’t be a widow in the 16th Century for five minutes

He only lost his wife and daughters last week but Cromwell was already getting interrogated by the ruddy-nosed woman about his intentions to marry again. He opted for a mistress instead.

7. Gregory Cromwell is far too proud for his own good

Perhaps it’s just his youth but Cromwell’s son does not come across well. He wanted white hounds instead of black ones because of peer pressure – talk about being a spoilt brat. You get the sense that Cromwell is growing less fond of him.

8. Don’t break off secret engagements – there’ll be hell to pay

Spare a thought for Cardinal Wolsey. He broke off Henry Percy’s engagement to Anne Boleyn years earlier – ever since then Percy has been nursing a grudge. Sadly, before Wolsey met his maker, Percy was arresting him for treason.

9. If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, you’ll probably like Wolf Hall

Writer George RR Martin was inspired by the court of Henry VIII when he was writing his fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire. When you start looking, you notice the parallels between Game of Thrones and Wolf Hall - Cromwell and Lord Littlefinger seem to have quite a few things in common.

10. If you’re a fan of The Tudors, you probably won’t like Wolf Hall

Remember The Tudors - that trashy period drama that was full of sex, threw the history book out of the window, and had a laddish Henry VIII played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers? Well, Wolf Hall is nothing like that. The sex has been kept to a minimum while the story follows history a lot more closely.

we cant wait for next week!!!!!!!!