Mirror and Light is the source material this time; Hilary Mantel’s story of Thomas Cromwell from a humble blacksmith’s son to Henry VIII. The final chapter of Henry’s fictional trilogy, which chronicles his extraordinary journey to prime minister; Spoiler alert for those who didn’t pay attention to history class: it doesn’t end well for the protagonist.

The ghostly vision of Cardinal Wolsey (Jonathan Pryce) provides an early warning of impending betrayal, telling his protégé, “You’ll feel the whip when the odds turn against you.”

Mark Rylance once again proves why he is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest living thespians, delivering a typically nuanced performance that captures the complexity of a self-taught schemer.

Initially, he gives Cromwell, now promoted to the role of Lord Privy Seal, next to nothing. Even when he commits physical violence (“Come out while you’re high,” he threatens to manhandle an opponent outside the court), he manages to maintain his composure, arguably making him more intimidating than the rest. Damian Lewis an increasingly gouty king who becomes more openly monstrous.

But Cromwell’s mask slowly begins to slip when he is forced to question the ruler to whom he is proudly devoted (“I’m a good dog. If you charge me to guard something, I’ll do it.”), first with threats to the princess he wants to marry, and then with threats to himself.

On the other hand, it would be difficult to sympathize with such a calculating being, but Rylance, along with screenwriter Peter Straughan, dig deep to find their inner humanity.

Of course, Rylance isn’t the only actor at the top of his game. What Lewis lacks in physical resemblance he makes up for in mercurial swagger, as a man who displays psychopathic ambivalence toward his various wives, “divorced, beheaded, dead.”

“Did I marry a fool?” Just a few days after the wedding, Henry asks Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips, with perhaps his weakest wife), declaring, “I came from hell to heaven.”

Elsewhere, Lilit Lesser provides some much-needed girl power as Mary, the devout Catholic princess who says of her own father, “Not my king.” Thomas Brodie-Sangster – who looks like he hasn’t aged a day after nearly a decade – is impressive as one of the few characters with a moral conscience (“Did it have to be so, so bloody?”) Privy Councilor Rafe Sadler, Anne’s head a ballerina It is not unfair that Cromwell asked this question, as he had watched him be slaughtered by the French.)

And Timothy Spall, replacing the late Bernard Hill, steals every scene as the blustering Duke of Norfolk (“He talks to a woman as if she were a city wall and has to get over her,” Cromwell notes, immediately after the idiot’s crude comparison of a wall collapsed to toilet paper carpet).

This is the kind of comedy twist you’ve been waiting for Big, mary and george or other streaming-era hits that have gleefully subverted the great period drama since Mantel’s work was last adapted for the big screen.

Except some color blind castingRecruiting the anti-woke brigade (Egyptian-born Amir El-Masry takes over the role of Thomas Wyatt from Scotsman Jack Lowden, while British-African actress Sarah Priddy plays Lady Margery Seymour), that’s where the similarities end.

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Indeed, Nicholas Hoult’s Emperor Henry III. Those who enjoy his delivery as Peter may find the rest of Wolf Hall a bit stiff in comparison: the pacing can often be glacial; the sets are often shrouded in candlelight, despite meticulous attention to period detail; and the intricate machinations of the plot sometimes require a CliffsNotes to fully understand. This is prestige TV with a capital P, meant to be digested slowly, without overdoing it, justifying the BBC’s decision to premiere a new episode every Sunday evening rather than dumping all six episodes onto iPlayer at once.

Therefore, it is easier to admire the Mirror and the Light than love. But like its predecessor, which was awarded many awards, including eight Emmy awards, BAFTA and the Golden Globe, it will undoubtedly go down in the history books as a Machiavellian masterpiece.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light comes to BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday, November 10.

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