One Tribe TV expands premium slate with Tudor Historical Documentary for ARTE

EAward-winning Nations and Regions producer One Tribe TV has been commissioned by ZDF (for German-French cultural channel ARTE) to produce a major new exploration of the extraordinary rise and dramatic fall of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s most formidable advisor. Sphere Abacus is handling global sales

Blending premium dramatic reconstruction with expert testimony, Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell (2 x 60 mins & 1 x 90 mins) re-examines one of Tudor history’s most controversial and misunderstood figures. Cromwell was the blacksmith’s son from Putney who rose to become the architect of England’s break with Rome; mastermind of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and emerge as the most powerful man in England after the King himself.

Long cast as the villain of the Tudor court, Cromwell is reassessed in the documentary as a brilliant strategist, political revolutionary and self-made outsider whose influence reshaped England more radically than perhaps any other statesman in British history.

Dale Templar, Executive Producer and Co-Founder of One Tribe, says: “The project arrives amid continuing global appetite for Tudor history following the success of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy and the fabulous BBC adaptation starring Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis. The documentary continues One Tribe TV’s growing reputation for premium history programming, combining cinematic storytelling with scholarly insight.”

Recent history productions from the indie include: A Ship Through Time (S4C/Sky History), A Kingdom in Chaos (ZDF), Mayhem: Secret Lives of the Georgian Kings (Sky History/ZDF/Arte), In the Footsteps of Marco Polo (CCTV/SBS), Sex: A Bonkers History (Sky History/A&E Networks/SBS) and Sex & Sensibility (Sky History/SBS).

Will Stapley, Global Content Director at Sphere Abacus, added: “One Tribe is a trusted production partner and an expert in premium, popular historical storytelling. We are excited to be taking this project out to the global market and expect there to be wide interest.”

Through contributions from leading historians and dramatic sequences filmed at key historical locations, Henry VIII’s Enforcer will examine the figures who defined his life and downfall - including Cardinal Wolsey, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII himself - while exploring the political and religious upheaval that transformed Tudor England forever.

Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell is produced and directed by Tom Taylor. Dale Templar from One Tribe is executive producer. It was commissioned by Michael Gries at ZDF/ARTE and Jonathan Ford at Sphere Abacus. Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution.

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