Disney+ to Adapt C.J. Sansom’s Detective Shardlake Novels

According to Deadline, Disney+ is currently in the process of developing a series adaptation of CJ Sansom’s bestselling Detective Shardlake crime novel series.

It’s centered around hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who works as a detective during the Tudor reign. The adaptation will be directed by Justin Chadwick, who is no stranger to Tudor-centered projects as he previously worked on Starz’s Becoming Elizabeth series and the acclaimed film The Other Boleyn Girl.

The series adaptation with the working title of Shardlake is set to start is production in the U.K. sometime this year. It hails from The Forge, who will reunite with Chadwick after working together on Becoming Elizabeth.

Sansom’s Shardlake novels series currently consists of seven stories including Dissolution (2003), Dark Fire (2004), Sovereign (2006), Revelation (2008), Heartstone (2010), Lamentation (2014), and Tombland (2018), along with the forthcoming Ratcliff which is set to launch on August 2023. Throughout the series, Shardlake will be working with historical figures including Queen Catherine Parr and Princess Elizabeth.

The first novel revolves around Dr. Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer who becomes an unlikely detective after being commissioned by Tudor powerbroker Thomas Cromwell. He investigates the beheading of commissioner Robin Singleton, who disbanded monasteries following Henry VIII’s declaration as the head of the Church of England.