Diana Rigg joins Victoria, Alexander Siddig becomes a Batman villain, and more
One of our favorite Game of Thrones actresses is exchanging the high court of King’s Landing for a regal life in 19th century England. Deadline reports that Dame Diana Rigg, best known as Tyrell matriarch Lady Olenna, has signed on for season 2 of PBS’s hit show Victoria.
She’ll be starring alongside actors Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes as the Duchess of Bucchleuch, or the queen’s Mistress of the Robes. She’ll act as an adviser to the young royal, something Olenna did quite well on Game of Thrones until Cersei ruined everything.
This may not be the biggest acting stretch for Diana Rigg, but we’re sure she can pull it off beautifully.
And so series 2 begins... #Victoria #VictoriaPBS pic.twitter.com/CEUDBUQWX6
— Official Victoria (@VictoriaSeries) February 14, 2017
Season 2 of Victoria is already being filmed. The final episode of season 1 will air this Sunday, March 5th at 9:00 p.m. EST.
Meanwhile, Clive Russell, aka Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully, is trying his hand at some medieval recreation. He’s landed a role as Viking King Harald Hardrada in a new BBC series A Year to Conquer England. This show combines history and dramatic reenactments about the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings. Check him out in action in this clip:
There’s more where that came from on the BBC’s website. They don’t quite the epic battle photography Game of Thrones is known for, but you learn more about a fascinating chapter in British history.
Finally, ComicBook.com reports that Alexander Siddig, who played Doran Martell for all too brief a time in seasons 5 and 6, will be playing Batman villain Ra’s al Ghul on Fox’s Gotham.
Ah Ghul has been around the Batman comics for decades, but the character got his widest exposure in 2005’s Batman Begins, where he was played by Liam Neeson. As the leader of the League of Shadows, an international criminal organization, he’ll play into the final eight episodes of the currently-in-progress third season.
ComicBook.com points out that Siddig will be the first Arab man to play Al Ghul, who has Arab origins. Gotham returns to the small screen on April 24.