Wolf Hall season 2 was almost cancelled after Hilary Mantel's death

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kosminsky said that the production seriously discussed canceling the second season out of respect for the author. However, the team behind the series eventually concluded that they would continue to make the show to serve as a memorial to Mantel.

Kosminsky told THR: "If it hadn’t been for the support of the BBC and Masterpiece at that point, when our morale was pretty low, I think there might’ve been a different outcome."

Kosminsky has been forthright in the struggles that the production faced to get Wolf Hall season 2 off the ground, having admitted that series star Mark Rylance took a pay cut in order to get the series made.

Recently, in written evidence submitted to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s inquiry into British film and high-end TV, Kosminsky said: "I’m writing this submission to alert the Committee to the fact that, were we to try to make The Mirror and the Light today, we would not succeed.

"The Mirror and the Light was offered to each streamer in turn. Despite the fact that its first series had won a Golden Globe, they all turned it down. It was only possible to begin production when the producer, the writer, the director and the leading actor all gave up a significant proportion of their fees.

"We had shepherded the series through a 10-year development process but, in the end, it was necessary for us to work for very little to get the show made."

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The second season of Wolf Hall, The Mirror and the Light, picked up right where season 1 ended and although it had been nearly 10 years since the series was on our screens, it was met with plenty of critical acclaim.

Mantel had published The Mirror and the Light in 2020, with the book becoming an instant Sunday Times bestseller and going on to be long-listed for The Booker Prize 2020.

Even though it was very much an anticipated feat, there were plenty of hurdles for the production. Series writer Peter Straughan said to THR: "I think there was a tremendous loyalty to her, to the project, from all of us."

Kosminsky added: "The truth is the BBC and Masterpiece moved heaven and earth to get this show made, and some of us made our own contributions, but the world has moved on since. I wouldn’t have said this in front of the House of Commons if I didn’t mean it: It wouldn’t get made now and neither would a number of shows."

Wolf Hall is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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