[1] During the dissolution of the monasteries in the Tudor era, the physically disabled barrister Master Matthew Shardlake is sent by Thomas Cromwell to investigate the death of a commissioner in the remote town of Scarnsea.

[9] The cast also includes Babou Ceesay, Paul Kaye, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Peter Firth, Matthew Steer, Brian Vernel,[10] and Joe Barber.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Well acted if a bit unconvincing in its verisimilitude, Shardlake's fast pace keeps it from feeling like a dry tutoring lesson on Tudors intrigue.

[15] Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph called it a "solid, intelligent offering" and that Hughes "imbues Shardlake with a sense of fairness and decency without making him too much of a goody-two-shoes".

[16] Joel Golby in The Guardian wrote that "Hughes is superb" and that his "Holmes-Watson dynamic with Boyle's rogueish Jack Barak is very enjoyable".