Jenna Coleman starts work on Season 2 of 'Victoria;' Diana Rigg joins cast

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes have begun shooting Season 2 of the historical drama Victoria, ITV announced.

Game of Thrones alum Diana Rigg will be a regular cast member this season, which was once again written by creator and executive producer Daisy Goodwin.

Set six weeks after the events of Season 1, the upcoming episodes will follow Britain's Queen Victoria as she faces the new challenge of motherhood. Season 2 will include eight, hour-long episodes and a 2-hour, Christmas special.

Coleman plays the titular monarch, while Hughes portrays her husband Prince Albert. Rigg is taking on the role of the Duchess of Bucchleuch, "the young Queen's Mistress of the Robes, who is renowned for speaking her mind," a press release noted.

The ensemble will also include Nigel Lindsay, Alex Jennings, Peter Bowles, David Oakes and Daniela Holtz.

"In Series 1, Victoria married the handsome prince, but in this series she and Albert get down to the serious business of living happily, sometimes stormily, ever after," Goodwin said in a statement Monday. "Victoria is the only Queen Regnant to marry and give birth while on the throne and the challenges of being head of state as well as a wife and mother are legion. In many ways, Victoria's dilemma is a modern one -- how do you have a successful marriage and a happy family when you are holding down an important job. Can you really have it all?"

Season 1 aired on ITV in the United Kingdom and on PBS in the United States last year.