HBO and the BBC will co-produce 1536, an eight-part drama series set in Tudor England during the arrest of Anne Boleyn, written by Ava Pickett (Deadline).

The series follows three young women — Anna, Mariella and Jane — living in an Essex village when word arrives that King Henry VIII has arrested Queen Anne Boleyn. What begins as a royal crisis becomes the story of ordinary lives caught in the upheaval. Pickett, whose previous credits include the satirical period drama The Great, serves as writer, showrunner and executive producer.

Molly Manners, known for the Netflix adaptation of One Day, directs and executive produces. The production comes from Drama Republic, the Mediawan-backed company behind the BBC's Doctor Foster and Amazon's Steal. Jude Liknaitzky, Roanna Benn, Rebecca de Souza and Chloe Beeson executive produce for Drama Republic, while Anna Ferguson executive produces for the BBC (Deadline).

1536 began life as a stage play produced by Margot Robbie's production company LuckyChap. The play opened at the Almeida Theatre in north London and later transferred to the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End for a limited season running from 2 May to 1 August 2026 (West End Theatre). The BBC described it as an award-winning play when it announced the television commission in February 2026 (BBC Media Centre).

Deadline first broke the news of the 1536 television project in February 2026. The BBC confirmed the commission the same month in a press release dated 23 February 2026 (BBC Media Centre). The latest reporting from Deadline on 5 August 2026 adds HBO as co-producer and fills in the full creative team.

Francesca Orsi, HBO's Executive Vice President of Programming and Head of HBO Drama Series and Films, oversees the project on the HBO side. Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, leads for the British broadcaster.

For a play that started at a 325-seat theatre in Islington to land an eight-episode co-production between two of the most influential broadcasters in English-language drama is a leap that few stage works make. The gap between a limited West End run and a streaming-era television series — backed by a Hollywood production company and a French-owned studio — is the kind of jump that puts a writers' room, a crew of hundreds and a finished story in front of a global audience rather than a few thousand ticket-holders.

No broadcast date has been announced.