Magic kingdom

Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode travel back to Elizabethan England as A Discovery of Witches returns for more witchcraft and romance

- EMMA BULLIMORE

NEW FANTASY DRAMA

A Discovery of Witches

Friday, Sky One HD, 9pm

Adapted from Deborah Harkness’ hugely popular trilogy of books, Sky One’s A Discovery of Witches became an instant hit when the first series debuted in 2018.

The story follows historian Dr Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a witch of extraordinary abilities, as she forms an unlikely partnership with mysterious vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode) after finding an enchanted manuscript, known as the Book of Life, in Oxford’s Bodleian Library.

Now she must escape the all-powerful Congregation (a council of non-human creatures), who are hunting her down, determined to find out what the elusive Book of Life means for humans and magical beings.

But where can a vampire and a witch conceal themselves from such danger? As the second 10-part season arrives on our screens, Diana and Matthew have the perfect place to hide – in the past, as they timetravel back to Matthew’s house in 1590. Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne, and she just so happens to be an old friend of his.

To shed light on this intriguing plot twist, TV&Satellite Week visited stars Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer on a muddy set near Newport in Wales back in 2019, before the pandemic hit.

The crew had spent six months erecting a miniature Elizabethan England, with crooked woodenbeam houses, and narrow, cobbled streets that were filled with actors bustling around in period costume.

Here, Palmer, 34, and Goode, 42, reveal what’s in store...

What can we expect from season two?