Starz, HBO, and Showtime have developed an easy, successful formula for making historical series interesting; for all the old-fashioned dress and mannerisms, there’s an equal dose of timeless nudity (unless World War II is involved, whereupon they stay classy). It’s interesting, then, that HBO, in partnership with the BBC, is developing a mini-series based on Wolf Hall, the Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Hilary Mantel. After all, Mantel’s historical fiction about Thomas Cromwell and medieval England, while well-written, is very dry, with every detail accounted for and every bodice remaining intact. The book will be adapted by Peter Straughan (The Debt, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), who, given the book’s length and cable’s history-to-sex ratio, will have his work cut out for him.