All-star cast announced for Queen Victoria drama

Further casting has been announced for ITV’s new 8-part drama, Victoria starring Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, Death Comes to Pemberley) as the young Queen Victoria – our longest-serving monarch until she was overtaken by Elizabeth II this year.

Joining Jenna will be Rufus Sewell (Parade’s End, The Pillars of the Earth) as Lord Melbourne, Victoria’s first prime minister. The two immediately connected and their intimate friendship became a popular source of gossip that threatened to destabilise the Government – angering both Tory and Whigs alike.

The ensemble cast also features: Paul Rhys (Borgia, Being Human) as Sir John Conroy, the ambitious controller of the Duchess of Kent’s household, who controlled Victoria’s upbringing, hoping to rule through her, when she came to the throne. Peter Firth (Spooks, Undeniable) is the Queen’s conniving uncle the Duke of Cumberland and Catherine Flemming (Simones Labyrinth, No Place to Go) plays the Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria’s mother.

Eve Myles (Broadchurch, Torchwood) plays Mrs Jenkins, the Queen’s senior dresser and Adrian Schiller (Suffragette, Endeavour) is Penge, the Household Steward. Nichola McAuliffe (Agatha Raisin: The Quiche of Death, Coronation Street) is the ruthless Duchess of Cumberland, Daniela Holtz (Phoenix, Der Verdacht) is Victoria’s governess and confidante Baroness Lehzen, and Nell Hudson (Outlander, Call the Midwife) plays the mysterious new member of the household, Miss Skerrett. Tommy-Lawrence Knight (The Sarah Jane Adventures) also joins the royal household as the hall boy, Brodie.

Nigel Lindsay (You, Me and the Apocalypse, The Tunnel) is Sir Robert Peel, the leader of the Tory party. Alice Orr-Ewing (The Theory of Everything, Pramface) is cast as Lady Flora Hastings, lady-in-waiting to Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent.

Victoria is made by Mammoth Screen and created and written by acclaimed novelist Daisy Goodwin.

Victoria starts filming in & around the North of England this October for transmission in 2016. The series will open with a 90-minute episode, followed by 7 one-hour episodes.