Perhaps More saved up all his jokes for one final blow-out...

Cromwell's execution was the one stand-out scene in the Ray Winstone TV series a few years ago - and even then they spoiled it by having two courtiers sharing malicious gossip beforehand about the untrained axeman. That was completely unnecessary, because you could tell exactly what was going on from Danny Webb's face when he was confronted with the miserable-looking boy who had been told to kill him, and the way he tried to coach him in the job.