SceneSpan

26/10/2025

In his latest blog, Peter asks the questions: is history art or science? People, or events? What can we ever really know about history, and what should we care about?

Is history art, or science? People, or events? What can we ever really know about history, and what should we care about?

16/11/2024

We were pleased to be asked to contribute to today's Guardian feature about the tension between film makers and historians

Film and TV have a slippery relationship with the truth when it comes to historical epics. So spare a thought for the historical experts whose advice often goes unheeded

31/10/2024

Interviewing on the set of Wolf Hall

09/05/2024

Peter needing a hair cut, and speaking to BBC's HistoryExtra about the historical back story to the new series on Disney+
Full podcast available wherever you usually get your podcasts, in which we go into all sorts of detail about the production!

06/05/2024

Very sad to read of the death of the great Bernard Hill 😢

01/05/2024

Peter speaking to the Aspects of History podcast, about the new Shardlake show, which came out on Disney+ today and on which Peter worked as historian.

A bonus episode sees the historical consultant of the new Disney series Shardlake join to discuss disability and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the history behind the new show. Based on the novels written by C.J.Sansom who died on Saturday 27th April.

29/04/2024

How sad we are to hear of the death of the brilliant C.J. Sansom, author of the Shardlake novel series which, by a remarkable and rather tragic coincidence, is finally to appear on our TV screens in only two days.
A truly great historical novelist, who introduced countless readers to the endless fascination of historical study.
Thankfully he was with us long enough to have had a huge influence on the TV adaptation of his first novel - the Shardlake we'll see on screen later this week is Sansom's Shardlake.

The four-part adaptation of historical crime novel Dissolution stars Game Of Thrones actor Sean Bean, Masters Of The Air actor Anthony Boyle, and The Innocents star Arthur Hughes.

17/04/2024

SHARDLAKE, which was a joy to advise for, comes out on Disney+ on 1 May!
"Shardlake" is a TV adaptation of the first in the series of Shardlake novels by C.J. Sansom - an ingenious and gripping series of Tudor whodunnit stories. This one is a murder mystery set in a Tudor monastery during the time of the dissolution - intriguing!

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16/04/2024

First-look stills released for the new Wolf Hall series! which wrapped just before Easter.
"Peter and SceneSpan joined a troupe of historical advisors and coaches on The Mirror and the Light to provide the production with a wealth of practical and scholarly advice in the niche area of 16th-century liturgical practice. Peter coached cast members through rites and rituals in a friendly and reassuring manner. His advice encompassed the authenticity of props, costume and staging across weddings, deathbeds and evensongs, and was delivered with enthusiasm, energy and a commendable flexibility as to how closely it was followed!”
-Lisa Osborne
Producer, Wolf Hall 2: The Mirror & The Light

15/03/2024

Great day advising on the set of Wolf Hall yesterday! With the privilege of working with incredible musicians as well as truly brilliant actors.

22/02/2024

Unusually, we're currently consulting on two major period dramas simultaneously, and both very different eras. Peter churning through scripts, in the SceneSpan office which doubles (triples?) as a studio for his and Helen's other businesses, Vestus robe hire and Wagstaff & Wardle