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| Christopher John Sansom (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images) |
CJ Sansom is one of the authors who inspired my own writing. If only I had his skill to recreate another time and place and to bring to life characters, who we love so much that my husband thought Matthew was a real person because of how often I talked about him! Reaching for his books will now be tinged with a bit of sorrow, but I am thankful we have them to keep picking up.
The joy of Sansom fans is muted today as we remember his brilliant written works, watch one brought to life on screen, and know that we will never again hold a new Sansom novel in our hands. Besides his masterpiece Shardlake series, Sansom also wrote an alternate post-WWII history, Dominion, and a novel about the Spanish Civil War, Winter in Madrid. I have loved every one of his books and have read most of them more than once. I feel we are especially blessed now to watch Shardlake and honor the fantastic writer who created it.
Readers can be some of the greatest critics of their favorite characters and stories brought to screen. I get it and am often the same way. We love them the way they are written and think it is sacrilege to make changes, but I was greatly encouraged to hear actor Arthur Hughes talk about being selected to play Matthew Shardlake. Yes, Arthur, we've all fallen in love with Matthew.
Many of us had our own ideas of who should play Matthew, whether or not Jack Barak should even be a part of this part of the story, and how on earth Sean Bean ended up selected to be Thomas Cromwell. I've even seen complaints that the actor's disability is not precisely the same as Matthew's in the books. (Hughes has radial dysplasia rather than Matthew's severe scoliosis.)
But Matthew didn't carry a sword . . . . and if he did it wouldn't be one like that! Noted. Now let's move on.
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| Screenshot from Shardlake copyright Disney+ |
Because these things aren't what is most important about Matthew Shardlake. What has made me wonder if I can order a Team Matthew hoodie was his character, his brilliance, his love for others, the way my heart hurts when he is ruthlessly dismissed because of his deformity. The friendship between Jack and Matthew is one of the best things about the series, and if the show can demonstrate that better by bringing Jack on scene a little earlier than is strictly correct, it is a change I accept. (Sorry, Mark.)
After all, friends, we are only getting FOUR EPISODES. The audiobook version of Dissolution is 14.5 hours long. Let's give the show's creators a little grace, shall we? And give me a bit of grace as well, because here I am going on, and I haven't even got to the first episode yet.
EPISODE 1
I stayed up until midnight to watch episode one as soon as it became available, something I have never done before. My husband was out of town, typically a reason for me to leave the TV off for days, but here I sat in the middle of the night, ready to watch Shardlake.
The first glimpse we get of Arthur Hughes as Matthew, he is washing and dressing for the day, and his disability is on full display in a way that would have horrified poor Matthew. Anyone watching who does not already know the story, begins with learning Matthew is a hunchback, a deformation that would have defined his entire character to many of his 16th century contemporaries, but we soon learn there is much more to him.
In public, Matthew is confident, giving people orders that he anticipates will be obeyed. He is brilliant, called upon by Cromwell because of his perseverance in finding truth. But the show's creators sneak in a couple of scenes where Matthew is doubting himself, and this was fantastic. I wondered how they would portray the Matthew I have grown to love, a man full of contradictions and emotions. Appearing every bit the King's Man to the monks of St Donatus, he mentally thrashes himself for even considering that Alice could think of him as a potential mate.
My favorite scene (straight out of Dissolution, chapter 3) was when Matthew was watching poor, abused Simon Whelplay light candles. His mind returns to a memory of himself as a young, crooked-backed acolyte, proclaiming to the priest that he would like to devote himself to God. When the priest laughed contemptuously, pointing out that Matthew certainly does not appear to be created in the image of God, I wanted to take that little boy into my arms and comfort him, just as I have felt so many times when reading the books.
I know, you're wondering when I'm going to talk about Jack Barak. At this point, Barak seems to be an amalgamation of his character and that of Mark Poer, Matthew's assistant in Dissolution, who does not appear in the series. The introduction is similar to how we meet Barak in Dark Fire, if he is a bit more cheerful and less brooding than I pictured him. He's not rugged and dangerous so much as he is irreverent and arrogant - so far at least. I'm still mulling over what they're doing with Barak's character.
It was a bit odd for him to be checking out Joan, who is supposed to be Matthew's plump, competent, middle-aged housekeeper, but whatever. Moving on.
We also meet several of the monks, including Guy Malton, who becomes a long-standing character in the series. Unlike in the book, there is no reaction to his race, which is just as much disadvantage to him in Tudor England as Matthew's disfigurement. But, I guess modern TV producers didn't think they could get away with referring to a middle-eastern man as a "black old moldwarp." Fair enough. In the show, unlike the book or history, Guy is not alone in being a non-white man in the monastery, so it is a nonissue.
Brother Jerome is also wandering around, exclaiming things he shouldn't, though he doesn't carry injuries from being racked by Cromwell as he should. Simon spills some juicy tidbits when he collapses from illness and starvation. Prior Mortimus finds fault in everyone, is always angry, and must be the killer - because his name is Mortimus! Just as in Dissolution, at this point, EVERYONE appears guilty, and you almost expect an Orient Express type murder occurred where they each played their own part.
Who else is waiting for Matthew to have an emotive memory of Kate? I have my tissues ready.
Of course, I'm watching from the point of view of someone who has long been a fan of this series, so I'm curious what viewers think of it if they haven't read any of the books. What were your thoughts on episode one? I hope to post again soon on the next episode!
My reviews of the Shardlake series:
Tombland (ok, I just realized I never wrote a full review of this one, but here are my favorite lines!)
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