'Wolf Hall' sequel series adds cast members

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The BBC has unveiled the cast for its Wolf Hall sequel series.

The network said in a press release Monday that Harriet Walter, Timothy Spall and Harry Melling have joined the historical drama.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is based on the final novel in the Hilary Mantel book series, which follows Thomas Cromwell's rise to power and downfall in the court of King Henry VIII.

Walter will play Lady Margaret Pole, with Spall as the Duke of Norfolk and Melling as Thomas Wriothesley.

In addition, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Rafe Sadler), Joss Porter (Richard Cromwell), James Larkin (Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam), Richard Dillane (Duke of Suffolk), Will Keen (Archbishop Cranmer) and Hannah Steele (Mary Shelton) are confirmed to return.

The BBC previously announced that Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis will reprise Thomas Cromwell and King Henry VIII, with Jonathan Pryce (Cardinal Wolsey), Kate Phillips (Jane Seymour) and Lilit Lesser (Princess Mary) to also return.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is written by Peter Straughan and directed by Peter Kosminsky.

"Casting director Robert Sterne has done a truly extraordinary job assembling the most stunning cast with which I've ever had the privilege to work. Led by Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, they've been drawn by the quality of Hilary Mantel's writing and Peter Straughan's adroit adaptation. Shooting in Tudor locations all over England and Wales, it is our privilege to bring Hilary's last novel to an international television audience," Kosminsky said in a statement.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light opens in May 1536 in the wake of Anne Boleyn's death. Cromwell continues his climb to power and wealth as Henry finds short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

"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 VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe," an official synopsis reads.

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is in production. The series will air on BBC One in the United Kingdom and PBS Masterpiece in the United States.