Where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 as the BBC announces season 2 of the intense Tudor drama

Fans might be wondering where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 from the beginning now that a second season has finally been confirmed.

Award-winning Wolf Hall captured the world’s imagination with its adaptation of the late Hilary Mantel’s historical novel of the same name. We might know about the grisly history of King Henry VIII and his six wives, but Thomas Cromwell was at the heart of his court. His life was an one of an epic rise and fall and Wolf Hall charted the beginning of this journey as the King sought a marriage to Anne Boleyn. Now 8 years after the BBC drama ended with Queen Anne’s downfall, they have announced that Mark Rylance will return as Thomas alongside Damian Lewis’ King Henry in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light. 

Years in the making, this second season promises to be just as intense. It might have also got many of us reaching for our best electric blanket and wanting to re-watch season 1. Here we share where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 from anywhere in the world so you can remind yourself of all the epic Tudor moments so far…

Where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 in the UK

When it comes to where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 in the UK the place to head is BBC iPlayer where various other boxsets, ranging from the Boiling Point short film and series to The Woman in the Wall are also ready and waiting to be enjoyed. Since it first landed in 2015, unsurprisingly Wolf Hall isn’t currently airing live but you can stream all six episodes of the historical drama on iPlayer for free.

This means you can savour each episode for as long as you like or can race through to the heart wrenching season finale all in one go. Currently all the episodes are listed as being available to stream on this platform for over a year so no rush is required if you want to re-immerse yourself in the 16th century world of Wolf Hall or discover the show for the first time.

Where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 in the US

Wolf Hall originally aired on PBS Masterpiece for fans based in the United States - something that was also the case for Endeavour season 9. However, it’s no longer available to stream there and so Amazon is where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 in the US now. You can enjoy the first season via Amazon Prime with a PBS Masterpiece subscription which costs $5.99 a month, though you can get a 7-day free trial. Alternatively you can buy specific episodes for $1.99 each or $9.59 for the whole season. The six episodes of Wolf Hall season 1 can also be purchased via iTunes.  

Alternatively if you’re going to be in the US travelling when you want to watch Wolf hall, but are UK based, you won’t be able to like you would at home thanks to regional restrictions. Luckily there’s an easy solution and you can use a VPN to continue watching.

This is a handy bit of software that changes your IP address so that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home. 

Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate ExpressVPN as the absolute best. They say, “It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Express.”   

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Ranked among one of the fastest VPN providers, this risk-free service is also compatible with all of your devices. Enjoy access to almost any streaming service, and if you don't like it there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.

If you've never installed a VPN before, don't worry, it's quick and easy. Just follow these three steps:

1. Download and install the VPN following ExpressVPN's easy-to-follow instructions.
2. Once you've installed your VPN, open the app and select your server location as anywhere in the UK.
3. With your VPN installed and server location set to UK, you can now watch Wolf Hall season 1 online. 

Where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 everywhere else in the world

Australian fans wondering where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 can enjoy Thomas Cromwell’s story from the beginning via a Stan subscription which is from $10 a month. They also offer a 30-day free trial of the platform and if you’re based in Australia you can also purchase the show on iTunes and the same is true for fans living in Canada. For many other countries around the world including Spain and New Zealand unfortunately it doesn’t seem as though there are ways to watch Wolf Hall outside of buying the series. 

When will Wolf Hall season 2 be released?

The BBC and Masterpiece PBS only announced the return of Wolf Hall for a second series, titles, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, on 20th November. They explained that the series will be based on the final novel in Hilary Mantel’s award-winning trilogy and that filming will begin “shortly” so we don’t know a release date for Wolf Hall season 2. This phrase suggests that it could be quite a wait until we see Mark Rylance back as Thomas Cromwell.

Thankfully, it’s already been confirmed that the series will also have six episodes like Wolf Hall series 1 and will air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and Masterpiece PBS in the US. So now you know where to watch Wolf Hall season 1 there's plenty of time to re-watch the best moments in anticipation of the next installment.