Fans of Sky One’s A Discovery of Witches will be thrilled to know a second series of the drama is on the way, again adapted from Deborah Harkness’ bestselling All Souls trilogy.
Set in a world where witches, vampires, and daemons secretly live and work alongside humans, hidden in plain sight, the show’s full of magic, mystery, and drama.
Viewers are set to be transported back in time for the show’s second outing, and Sky has revealed a first look image showing 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.
Based on Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy, A Discovery of Witches is a British fantasy television series titled after the first book. Featuring Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode as a witch and a vampire, it was produced by Bad Wolf and Sky Studios. Along with these actors and actresses, we have Edward Bluemel and Louise Brealey and Valarie Pettiford and Aiyasha Hart, and Owen Teale and Alex Kingston the film.
This season’s first eight-episode run began on Sky One in the United Kingdom on September 14, 2018. A Discovery of Witches was renewed for a second and third season by Sky One in November 2018. The ten-part second season premiered on Sky One every Sunday in January 2021 after being released in its entirety on 8 January 2021. It premiered on Sky Max on January 7th, 2022, and ran for seven weeks until being canceled. An award nomination for Best New Drama at the National Television Awards was praised by critics, with particular acclaim for the chemistry between the show’s major characters.
When is the A Discovery of Witches season 2 release date?
CONFIRMED: #ADiscoveryOfWitches Series 2. January 2021.
Matthew and Diana will be timewalking on to #SkyOne and @NOWTV in the UK, following soon after on @sundance_now & @Shudder in the US.
Be prepared… pic.twitter.com/f8XvvgDPxc— Sky TV (@skytv) August 6, 2020
Magic power couple Diana and Matthew are finally back on our screens, with all 10 episodes of fantasy drama A Discovery of Witches available to view on NOWTV as of Friday 8th January (and episodes airing weekly on Sky One on Friday evenings).
Where is A Discovery of Witches filmed?
South Wales provided the setting for the majority of season two’s filming, with the production crew creating an authentic Elizabethan environment around an old farmhouse in Plas Machen, Newport.
Other sequences were filmed in Italy, the Gower peninsula, and Oxford, England.
A Discovery of Witches season 2 trailer
In Sky’s first-look teaser for the second season of A Discovery of Witches, released in October, we see Diana and Matthew travel back in time to Elizabethan London in search of “England’s most powerful witch” and a lost potent book that promises immortality.
For now, Diana swears to stick at Matthew’s side even if he drags her “into a war” that’s on the horizon, while the Clairmont’s get ready for something “that threatens the future of [their] family.”
Who is in the cast of A Discovery of Witches?
Season two of A Discovery of Witches will see Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer returning as Diana Bishop, a young historian turned witch, and Matthew Clairmont, a centuries-old vampire.
Tom Hughes, star of Victoria, has been hired as Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan playwright whose work is still performed and studied today.
In an interview with RadioTimes.com, Hughes said, “I’m looking forward to entering into Deborah’s magical universe and playing such a fascinating figure as Kit Marlowe.” When you have so much to work with, Kit’s dark and shifting personality will be a joy to explore.”
Sky later announced a slate of brand new additions to the cast, most notably Sheila Hancock (Unforgotten) as experienced witch Goody Alsop, James Purefoy (Sex Education) as vampire Philippe and Steven Cree (Outlander) as Matthew’s nephew, Gallowglass.
The news you’ve all been waiting for!
Welcome to #ADiscoveryofWitches @MrStevenCree as Gallowglass and @JamesPurefoy as Philippe! pic.twitter.com/KjNJDwGOnK
— Sky TV (@skytv) September 5, 2019
Lindsay Duncan also stars in the series as Matthew’s mother Ysabeau, with Doctor Who’s Alex Kingston playing a key role as Diana’s aunt and guardian Sarah Bishop.
In addition, Owen Teale, Aisling Loftus, and Valarie Pettiford feature in the supporting cast.
What is A Discovery of Witches about?
Season two will be based on Deborah Harkness’ already-published novel Shadow of Night, and the plot is summarised on the author’s website as follows:
Two books into All Souls, Diana and Matthew find themselves in a bustling Elizabethan London, a world of spies and deceit, and a coterie of Matthew’s old pals, the enigmatic School of Night.
They set out with the goal of finding a witch to teach Diana and to unearth evidence of Ashmole 782, but as Matthew’s past begins to close around them, it becomes clear that their adventure will take them into the shadows of the 1,500-year-old vampire’s history and secrets.” Time travel and Diana’s quest for the secret to her legacy aren’t easy for Matthew Clairmont.
If this plotline is followed to a tee, there may be some deviations, such as Ysabeau’s alliance with Diana’s witch aunts, in season two.
It was revealed in a preview of the second season that Diana’s beloved aunts Sarah and Em would have to find refuge with infamous witch-hunter Ysabeau de Clermont at her ancestral house, Sept-Tours.
“Meanwhile, in Oxford, Marcus and Miriam take on Matthew’s mantle to protect daemons Nathaniel and Sophie, whose pregnancy is advancing. Every evidence they can get their hands on is being scoured by Gerbert, Knox, Satu, and Domenico as they try to uncover what their allies are hiding from them.
