BBC burns through a staggering £20K in candles for Wolf Hall
IT HAS been revealed that the BBC burnt through £20,000 worth of candles during the filming of it's hit period drama Wolf Hall.
According to the show's director, Peter Kosminsky, hi-tech cameras meant he could do away with traditional studio lights while filming the BBC2 drama.
He told the Royal Television Society magazine Television: "With the Arri Alexa camera, for the first time on television it has become possible to shoot exclusively by candlelight.
"Some scenes were shot with just one candle."
The lack of lighting has not impressed every viewer with former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell tweeting: "Not entirely persuaded by the lighting strategy."
While comic Jason Manford wrote: "Trying to watch Wolf Hall but can't see a fecking thing!"
The series, based on Hilary Mantel's award-winning novels, stars Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII.
Meanwhile, ratings for the Tudor drama fell from a staggering 3.9million for the first episode to 2.9 million for the second episode.
Kosminsky has revealed he persuaded corporation bosses out of plans to air the show on BBC1 because he was worried it would not get a big enough audience.
He told the magazine: "I am glad it is on BBC2. When we first started submitting the rushes there was a discussion, at a fairly high level within the BBC, about whether the show should move to BBC1.
"I argued with the producers that this would be a mistake. It wouldn't meet the slot average and therefore the BBC would be put on the defensive."
He added: "Transmitting it on BBC1 would open it to illegitimate criticism because it is aimed at a thoughtful audience and one prepared to give things a bit more time."
Wolf Hall returns to screens tonight on BBC2 at 9pm.
