Fictional

• Matthew Shardlake – main character and narrator of the series, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn and later Serjeant-at-law. Initially an adherent to the new Anglican faith, and ever a religious thinker, he was once refused as a candidate for the priesthood due to his infirmity.
• Jack Barak – formerly Thomas Cromwell's henchman; after Cromwell's execution he comes to work for Shardlake as a law clerk and investigator. Of Jewish descent.
• Stephen Bealknap – Shardlake's nemesis in the law courts of London; also a barrister of Lincoln's Inn.
• Vincent Dyrick – Shardlake's opposing barrister in several cases (Heartstone, Lamentations); of Gray's Inn.
• Dorothy Elliard – wife of Roger Elliard, and once a love interest of Shardlake's.
• Roger Elliard – Shardlake's best friend and fellow lawyer at Lincoln's Inn.
• Ellen Fettiplace – a woman who came originally from a small town in Sussex, she had been living in Bedlam, a lunatic asylum in London, for nearly two decades.
• Brother Guy, later Guy Malton – a Moor turned Christian monk at Scarnsea monastery at Sussex. After the dissolution of the monasteries he came to London to practice as an apothecary, later as a physician; a target for racial discrimination because of his skin colour.
• Nicholas Overton – a gentleman and Shardlake's pupil in chambers.
• Tamasin Reedbourne – a confectioner and junior servant of queen Catherine Howard, who after whose execution marries Barak.
• John Skelly – Shardlake's law clerk, a middle-aged family man with weak eyesight.

Characters who existed in real life

• Henry VIII – King of England 1509–1547, later Defender of the Faith and Head of the Church of England.
• Anne Askew – Protestant preacher, reformist and martyr, burnt at the stake in 1546.
• William Cecil – Barrister of Queen Catherine Parr's Learned Counsel.
• Thomas Cranmer – archbishop of Canterbury 1533–1555, leader of English Reformation.
• Thomas Cromwell – principal counsellor to Henry VIII and holder of a number of high state offices 1533–1540.
• Robert Kett – activist and leader of Kett's Rebellion over the enclosure of lands.
• Catherine Parr – sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, thus Queen of England 1543–1547. Reformist.
• William Paulet – nobleman and courtier, at one point Master of the Court of Wards.
• Richard Rich – member of the Privy Council, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations and from 1547, Baron Rich of Leez.

Radio

BBC Radio 4 has adapted novels in the Shardlake series as part of its 15-Minute Drama series. In 2012, Dissolution was adapted into a 10-part radio serial by Colin MacDonald, starring Jason Watkins as Shardlake and Mark Bonnar as Cromwell.^[13][14] BBC Radio 4 later broadcast Dark Fire in 2014, with Justin Salinger taking over the role of Shardlake and Bryan Dick playing Barak, Sovereign in 2015, Revelation in 2017, Heartstone in 2018, and Lamentation in 2021,^[15] all adapted by Colin MacDonald as 10-part serials.^[16]

Television

In 2007, the BBC commissioned an adaptation of Dissolution, with Kenneth Branagh set to star as Shardlake.^[17] Branagh chose instead to star as the eponymous protagonist in the BBC series Wallander.^[18]

In 2023, Disney+ greenlit an adaptation of the Shardlake novels. The series will consist of four episodes, and will be directed by Justin Chadwick.^[19] Arthur Hughes will play Shardlake.^[20]

Stage

In 2023, Mike Kenny adapted Sovereign as a community theatre production for the York Theatre Royal. Fergus Rattigan played Shardlake.^[21]