The Changes To 'Victoria' Season 3 Are Pretty Dramatic & There's A Lot Of New Faces

If, like me, you’re obsessed with Jenna Coleman’s portrayal of 19th century icon Queen Victoria (and let’s face it, how could you not be?), then prepare to rejoice. ITV recently confirmed that the hit show would be returning for a third time, but when does Victoria Season 3 actually start? Turns out the hit royal drama will be back on our TV screens sooner than you can say "we are not amused."

Producers cleverly made the announcement that the show is currently in production for its third instalment on Victoria Day — which is the anniversary of Queen Victoria's birthday. While filming is underway, there has yet to be an set air date confirmed. However, if previous years are anything to go by, we can expect to see the show returning to ITV1 around October, and quite frankly, it couldn't come soon enough.

Although ITV bosses didn't go into too much detail about upcoming storylines, they did promise the return of both Coleman and Tom Hughes, who plays the young Queen’s husband, Prince Albert, and is widely reported to be Coleman's real-life boyfriend since the pair have been spotted out together several times. It was also announced that there will be some exciting new additions to the cast when the series returns.

ITV have also confirmed that Lewis star (and Billie Piper's ex-husband) Laurence Fox will be joining the show as foreign secretary Lord Palmerston, who has been described as a "charismatic and wayward" new character. Meanwhile, British actress Kate Fleetwood, who has both Tony and Olivier Award nominations under her belt, will also be joining as Feodora, Victoria’s "mysterious" sister who walks back into the Queen’s life unannounced. But it doesn’t stop there. Comedian John Sessions will play new Prime Minister, John Russell, while Doctor Who star Lily Travers will play Duchess of Monmouth. Nicholas Audsley, who you may recognise from The Mummy’s David Burnett, and Emily Forbes have also been cast in the new season. So it’s safe to say there’ll be a lot of new faces to look out for.

Fans will remember that the previous season was centred around the Queen's struggle with her expanding family as she fell pregnant for a second time, shortly after giving birth to her firstborn. This will become even more apparent in the new series, according to the show’s creator Daisy Goodwin, who has revealed that viewers should brace themselves to see tension running high between Victoria and Albert due to their opposing views on having children. "Victoria and Albert are the most famous couple of the 19th century, but underneath the united facade, their relationship is at breaking point and it is a struggle for mastery that neither side can win,” she told ITV.

The new season will start in 1848, which was an extremely turbulent time for both the monarchy and Europe as revolutions erupted around the continent while Queen Victoria faced pressure from the government to leave London for safety reasons. Goodwin says viewers can expect to see all of this unfold in the most dramatic season yet.

Opening up about what's in store for fans, Goodwin was reported in the Radio Times telling viewers to expect heightened sexual tension between the young Royal couple.

"[Victoria] has six children in eight years — which is a lot — and there are some gaps, so I wonder whether there may have been some withholding [of sex] on both sides; that’s certainly something I’m going to explore in series three."

She continued: "There’s also a suggestion in a letter Albert writes to her. Basically, they thought that every time she was pregnant she went a bit mad, so there will be a bit of that. There’s s a suggestion that she’s not in her right mind, hereditary insanity and all of that. She’s in this terrible double bind. She loves Albert and she loves going to bed with Albert. But every time he goes near her she gets pregnant. Obviously that suits him more than it suits her."

While expectations are high for Season 3, by the sounds of things, Goodwin and the show's talented cast are definitely going to deliver.