Line of Duty’s Martin Compston to join cast of second series of Victoria

LINE OF DUTY star Martin Compston has joined the cast of the second series of Victoria.

The actor, best known for his turn as DS Steve Arnott in the hit BBC police drama, will guest star as Dr Robert Traill, a key campaigner in the fight to raise awareness of the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s.

© PA

French actor Bruno Wolkowitch, who plays Simon in Spin, will also guest star in the upcoming ITV series as French King Louis Philippe, who Queen Victoria will visit on her first outing to France.

The second series, written by creator Daisy Goodwin, will see the return of Jenna Coleman as Victoria and Tom Hughes as Prince Albert, while Game Of Thrones star Dame Diana Rigg will join the line-up as the Duchess of Buccleuch, the young Queen’s new Mistress of the Robes.

© PA

The drama will pick up six weeks after the end of the first series, and will see Victoria face the new challenge of motherhood, as she balances her responsibilities as a parent and as monarch.

Call The Midwife star Emerald Fennell, The Hollow Crown’s Jo Stone-Fewings, Maleficent’s Leo Suter and Paranoid star Michael Maloney will also join the cast.

Filming for the eight-part series is under way and the show is expected to return later this year, followed by a two-hour Christmas special.