Recorded on: 22, 24, 27 and 29 January 2025
Recorded at: The Soundhouse
Producer David Richardson said: "Everyone is fascinated by the court of Henry VIII and his doomed wives; the story has been told in TV dramas and films for decades, most recently in Wolf Hall. This is a very different take: what might have happened if River Song was there, thrown unwillingly into Earth's past?
"What if history doesn't play out as we thought... if those characters on the board game moved in different directions, made different choices? Rochana has delivered a belter of a script and one that really gives our actors something magical to play with."
Writer Rochana Patel added: "This is a vast, sprawling, lavish historical drama - with a dose of science fiction thrown in! Normally, when you get a 'celebrity historical', you'll get just one famous character, and only one episode to explore their story; but here we have multiple characters and multiple episodes, so we can really delve into the complexities of Tudor England, 1536!
"It's the biggest, longest pseudo-historical story in the Whoniverse! An epic drama, featuring Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, Mary Tudor and many others - with River Song right at the heart of the royal intrigue... If you enjoy series like Wolf Hall and The Tudors, you should find plenty to enjoy here!"
Alex Kingston said: "When I first read this story, I was intrigued and a little bit surprised. I'd recently been involved in a production of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, which takes place within the court of Henry VIII, so the world and the story is very familiar to me.
"But of course, it's got a fantastic twist, which brings alien elements into the Tudor court. The writer has really researched and used every snippet of factual history that we have about that time, and she’s really been able to play with that."
On playing Anne Boleyn, Charithra Chandran said: "It’s so exciting to play such an iconic figure, where there is so much lore behind her. She exists beyond the position that she has with her husband. She has this mystery to her. And it's really fun to be able to explore that in this series.
"You see lots of different sides of her. You see her as a mother. You see her as the cunning politico. You see her as someone who’s really vulnerable and worried for her life. So this brings a lot more depth and nuance to Anne Boleyn."
Charithra Chandran, Harry Myers, Alex Kingston, Joseph Capp
Alex Kingston and Charithra Chandran
Alex Kingston and Joseph Capp
David Richardson, Ken Bentley, Emily Woodward, Alex Kingston, Charithra Chandran, James Joyce, Joseph Capp
