THIS time 10 years ago the first episode of a highly popular six-part BBC series aired on TV - but why was it filmed in Somerset?
BBC Wolf Hall, which has just returned for a second series nearly 10 years after the first series aired, was largely filmed in Somerset and Wiltshire for both instalments.
READ MORE: Filming for BBC Wolf Hall at the Bishop's Palace in Wells
READ MORE: BBC show, filmed in Wells, Somerset, now available to watch
Since the first season was released in 2015, the future of any follow up series/film to the Wolf Hall world seemed highly unlikely - that was until a new second series was commissioned on May 27, 2019 - titled Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.
In March 2022, Mark Rylance, who plays Thomas Cromwell, confirmed that a second series was in development with scripts being worked on for six episodes and Peter Kosminsky set to return as director.
The Bishop's Palace, in Wells, was used as one of the Somerset film locations for the return of the popular BBC show.
BBC's The Wolf Hall is a historical drama television series that follows the rise and fall of Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell.
The series is an adaptation of the novel written by Dame Hilary Mantel, who died shortly before filming for series two began.
The first episode of the second series of Wolf Hall premiered on BBC One on November 10, 2024.
For the first series, although set largely in London, many scenes were shot in Somerset, at locations including the National Trust's Barrington Court, near Ilminster, and Montacute House.
Mark Pybus was listed as the original producer for the series which gripped the nation in 2015 and explained why Somerset was chosen as a filming spot for BBC Wolf Hall, and why a stable block at Barrington Court was the setting for his favourite scene in the series.
"When making the decision where to film Wolf Hall we looked at Yorkshire, we looked at the South East, and we looked at the South West," said Mark in January 2015. "It quickly became clear that the South West offered the best kind of Tudor properties.
"We were able, with the help of organisations like Creative England, to source which properties would allow us to film in the area, and which properties had filming in before - for this Creative England was so important."
Montacute House plays the part of Greenwich Palace in the television series. Greenwich acts as Henry VIII’s London Palace and the scene of Anne Boleyn’s arrest in 1536.
Montacute is one of the houses which belong to the National Trust.
Mark added: "The National Trust has been very supportive and around 40% of our overall shoots have been at Trust places.
"It will be a big part of the overall programme, the locations that people see."
Despite the success of the first series, Mark did not return for the second stint of the show - which aired nearly 10 years after the first instalment.
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