Shardlake (2024-)

Shardlake is a groundbreaking Disney+ series (abroad, in the US it's on Hulu) based on the popular novels of author CJ Sansom. We're taken back to the Tudor era when Henry VIII was the king of England. Disabled advocate and actor Arthur Hughes takes on the role of the titular Matthew Shardlake - a detective who was once shunned from the priesthood because of his disfigurement. Arthur has been outspoken about the importance of a disabled actor taking on this role. He's dispatched by Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean) to investigate the brutal murder of one of Cromwell's commissioners who was sent to a dying town to close down its monetary. Plenty of men of the cloth could be to blame for the murder, and Shardlake must go against the grain and possibly against Cromwell if he wants to find the killer. All of this is well and good, but what about the sexiness? Anthony Boyle is here to save the day. He finds a couple of opportunities to (gratuitously) showcase his rock-hard body complete with rippling abs. Boy oh Boyle!