Disney+ to Adapt CJ Sansom’s “Shardlake” Book Series

Another new project is in the works at Disney+. The Disney streamer is set to adapt the bestselling Shardlake novel series from author CJ Sansom, according to Deadline.

  • The Shardlake novel series currently consists of seven books and follows an unlikely detective working under Henry VIII’s reign.
  • The first book, “Dissolution,” introduces readers Dr Matthew Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer-turned-detective in Tudor England. He is sent by Thomas Cromwell, the ultimate Tudor powerbroker, to investigate the beheading of Robin Singleton, a commissioner responsible for disbanding monasteries after Henry VIII declared himself supreme head of the Church of England.
  • The new series will come from production company The Forge and director Justin Chadwick.
  • The series, which is currently using the working title “Shardlake,” will begin shooting in the UK this year and is reportedly to consist of four episodes.
  • This will be the second attempt to bring the popular book series to the screen after the BBC planned to shoot a project in 2007 that never actually made it to air.
  • “Shardlake” would join Disney+’s list of UK scripted original projects that currently includes Wedding Season and the upcoming Extraordinary.