With filming underway on the highly-anticipated second series of ITV and Mammoth Screen’s Victoria, it has been announced that award-winning actor Martin Compston will be making a guest appearance in the drama. 

The Line Of Duty star will play Dr. Robert Traill, a key campaigner in the petition to gain awareness and support for those suffering from the potato famine in Ireland during the 1840s. 

French actor Bruno Wolkowitch (Spin) will also be guest starring in the upcoming series as French King Louis Philippe, who Queen Victoria visits on her first outing to France. 

The pair join series leads Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) and Tom Hughes (The Game) who reprise their roles as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, as well as Dame Diana Rigg (Game Of Thrones) who was previously announced to play the Duchess of Bucchleuch, the young Queen’s new Mistress of the Robes, in the upcoming series. 

Following critical acclaim, the second series - once again written by creator and executive producer Daisy Goodwin – sees Queen Victoria face the new challenge of motherhood. Picking up six weeks after the first series ended, the second instalment establishes Victoria as a working mother, learning to balance her responsibilities as both parent and Queen. However, with Prince Albert still struggling to find a role for himself, there is an inevitable power struggle between husband and wife. 

Further names announced to join the second series include Emerald Fennell (Call The Midwife), Jo Stone-Fewings (The Hollow Crown), Leo Suter (Maleficent) and Michael Maloney (Paranoid). 

Returning cast members will also include Nigel Lindsay (Unforgotten) as Sir Robert Peel, Alex Jennings (The Lady In The Van) as King Leopold, Peter Bowles (To The Manor Born) as Duke of Wellington, David Oakes (The White Queen) as Ernest, Daniela Holtz (Circle Of Life) as Baroness Lehzen and Catherine Flemming (Tatort) as the Duchess of Kent. Below stairs Nell Hudson (Outlander) returns as Skerrett, Ferdinand Kingsley(Borgia) as chef Francatelli and Adrian Schiller (The Secret Agent) as Penge. 

The eight-part series and two-hour Christmas special has been commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama, Polly Hill, and will be executive produced by Damien Timmer (Endeavour), Kate McKerrell (Lost In Austen) and Daisy Goodwin for Mammoth Screen. It will again be produced by Paul Frift (Room At The Top). Directors for the series are Lisa James Larsson (Striking Out), Geoffrey Sax (Endeavour), Jim Loach (Endeavour) and Daniel O'Hara (Silent Witness). 

The first series of the drama was ITV’s highest rating drama of 2016, receiving critical acclaim and a consolidated average of 7.7m viewers with a 29% share. It is distributed by ITV Studios Global Entertainment and has been sold in 350 territories worldwide. It has also proved hugely popular in the US, with the first series reaching an average audience of 6.3m viewers and the first episode drawing in a 28% share - more viewers than the first series of Downton Abbey. 

Victoria is a co-production with MASTERPIECE on PBS, with Rebecca Eaton serving as executive producer. Victoria premiered on MASTERPIECE on PBS on January 15, 2017.