BBC follows Mantel for six months in new documentary

A BBC documentary on Hilary Mantel will air next week, following the author for six months in the run up to The Mirror & the Light (4th Estate) being published.

"Hilary Mantel—Return to Wolf Hall", broadcast on BBC Two at 9pm on 7th March, promises “exclusive and extensive access to one of the world's greatest living writers”.

The hour-long film will intertwine the themes of her trilogy with stories from the author's own life while exploring “how the world of Thomas Cromwell reverberates in our world today”, the BBC said.

Mantel will also discuss how and why she embarked on the trilogy. The BBC said: “This is an artist’s biography in the characteristic style and voice of one of the most singular and brilliant minds of our age. We see Hilary Mantel—a writer at the peak of her powers—in both her real and imaginative worlds, led by the curiosity that has driven her from the beginning.”

The Mirror & the Light, currently receiving rave reviews, is released on 5th March and is being billed as the literary event of the year. Mantel will appear at Waterstones Piccadilly for a signing event the day before her book’s release and again at the Royal Festival Hall on 6th March.