Travel back in time to Elizabethan England with series two of Sky original drama, A Discovery of Witches

Exclusive first look image of series two

New cast members confirmed including James Purefoy, Steven Cree, Paul Rhys and Sheila Hancock

Fans of A Discovery of Witches are set to be transported to Elizabethan England in the second season of the hit Sky original drama, adapted from Deborah Harkness’s bestselling All Souls trilogy and currently being produced in Cardiff by award-winning production company Bad Wolf.

This exclusive first look image from season two, shows Matthew (Matthew Goode, Downton Abbey) and Diana (Teresa Palmer, Hacksaw Ridge) on the streets of Elizabethan London, where they are hiding in time from the Congregation. Here in Elizabethan London they must find a powerful witch teacher to help Diana control her magic and search for the elusive Book of Life.

Set in a world where witches, vampires and daemons secretly live and work alongside humans, hidden in plain sight, season two also sees Steven Cree (Outlander), Sheila Hancock (Doctor Who), James Purefoy (The Following) and Paul Rhys (Vincent and Theo) join the cast.

Cree stars as Gallowglass De Clermont, a vampire and soldier of fortune who is particularly fond of his uncle, Matthew. James Purefoy plays the role of Philippe De Clermont, founder of the Congregation, commander of the Knights of Lazarus, mate of Ysabeau, and stepfather to Matthew. Paul Rhys is Andrew Hubbard, the vampire ruler of all creatures in London in 1590 and Sheila Hancock appears as elder witch Goody Alsop.

The cast for season two also includes Barbara Marten (Casualty) as Queen Elizabeth, Jacob Ifan (Cuffs) as Benjamin Fuchs, Holly Aird (Waking the Dead) as Francoise, Michael Lindall (Deep State) as Sir Walter Raleigh, Adam Sklar (Faceless) as Henry Percy, Joshua Pickering as Jack Blackfriars, Elaine Cassidy (Harper’s Island) as Louise De Clermont, Victoria Yeates (Call the Midwife) as Elizabeth Jackson / Water Witch, Adrian Rawlins (Chernobyl) as William Cecil, Lois Chimimba (Doctor Who) as Catherine Streeter/ Fire Witch, Amy McAllister (Philomena) as Marjorie Cooper/Earth Witch, Milo Twomey (Mother, Father, Son) as Pierre and the recently announced Tom Hughes (Victoria) playing Kit Marlowe.

Alongside the Elizabethan action, back in the present day, Diana’s beloved aunts, Sarah and Em, must take shelter with notorious witch hunter Ysabeau De Clermont at her ancestral home, Sept-Tours. Meanwhile, in Oxford, Marcus and Miriam take on Matthew’s mantle to protect daemons Nathaniel and Sophie, whose pregnancy is advancing. And Gerbert, Knox, Satu and Domenico are determined to hunt down every clue they can to Diana’s and Matthew’s disappearance, and the secrets their allies are keeping from them.

Cameron Roach, Sky Studios Director of Drama, said: “After the success of season one, we are really excited for the next instalment of A Discovery of Witches, as we continue to follow the love story of Diana and Matthew and their adventures in Elizabethan London. We have a great cast lined up and a unique historical setting, which we hope will further enchant fans. The hit fantasy series joins a host of new Sky original drama’s we have coming to Sky One this year”.

Jane Tranter, Executive Producer, Bad Wolf, added: “To have such high calibre talent joining an already exceptional ensemble is a testament to Deborah Harkness’ brilliant novels, Pete McTighe and Susie Conklin’s scripts and to the immensely talented cast and crew working to bring all to life. The bar was set high with season one but season two is already shaping up to take fans into a new realm as we follow Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan England. With cast like this they will not be disappointed.”

The ten-part season will also see the return of Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Alex Kingston (Doctor Who), Lindsay Duncan (The Honourable Woman), Valarie Pettiford (Half & Half), Edward Bluemel (The Commuter), Aiysha Hart (Line of Duty), Trevor Eve (Waking the Dead), Malin Buska (The Girl King), Gregg Chillin (Being Human), Trystan Gravelle (Mr Selfridge), Tanya Moodie (Sherlock), Aisling Loftus (War and Peace) and Daniel Ezra (All American).

A Discovery of Witches season two is based on the ‘Shadow of Night’ novel from Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy and will be coming to Sky One and NOW TV next year. Season one was the most popular series on Sky One last year, bewitching nearly 2million viewers and it was nominated for the ‘New Drama’ category at this year’s National TV Awards. BAFTA Cymru announced the nominations for the 2019 awards today and A Discovery Of Witches was nominated in two categories - Director, Juan Carlos Medina and Production Design, James North. The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday 13th October in Cardiff.

The show was commissioned by Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content, Sky UK and Ireland, and Cameron Roach, Director of Drama, Sky Studios. Kara Manley is the executive producer for Sky. Made by Bad Wolf Limited, A Discovery of Witches Series two is written by Sarah Dollard (Doctor Who, Being Human), Susie Conklin (The Musketeers, Cranford) and Pete McTighe (Doctor Who) who also serve as executive producers alongside co-founders of Bad Wolf, Jane Tranter and Lachlan MacKinnon along with Deborah Harkness. The series is directed by BAFTA award winning Farren Blackburn (The Fades, Daredevil), Philippa Langdale (Skins, Waking the Dead) and Jonathan Teplitzkt (Broadchurch).

About Sky

With 24 million customers across seven countries, Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Our 31,000 employees help connect our customers with the very best of Sports, News, the arts and to our own local, original content. Following the success of Sky originals like Chernobyl, Patrick Melrose, Das Boot and Gommorah we launched Sky Studios and now plan to more than double our investment in original drama and comedy over the next five years. Our technology allows customers to watch what they want, when they want, how they want, and as we connect millions of families to content they love, it is our responsibility to do it safely – that’s why we offer services like Sky Broadband Buddy and the Sky Kids app. And our online streaming service, NOW TV, brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service. We also believe that a company of our scale has a responsibility that goes beyond our business, and into the community. Our Sky Ocean Rescue campaign has reached millions across Europe, we’re on track to be free of single-use plastic by 2020, we’re investing £25million over five years in ocean-saving tech and we’re a proud employer – recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our approach to inclusivity.

About Bad Wolf

Bad Wolf was founded by Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner and is based in South Wales. The company is responsible for co-producing award-winning The Night Of for HBO, A Discovery of Witches for Sky One, and upcoming His Dark Materials for BBC One and HBO, as well as the Welsh-language short film Beddgelert for S4C. Bad Wolf is currently in production for A Discovery of Witches series 2, His Dark Materials series 2 and Industry for HBO and is in pre-production on I HATE SUZIE for Sky Atlantic.