Doctor Who companion Jenna Coleman will play Queen Victoria in a new 8-part ITV drama, the commercial broadcaster has this morning confirmed.

Jenna Coleman said: “I am delighted to be cast as Queen Victoria in this ambitious drama of her life. She is a vivid, strong, inspirational and utterly fascinating woman in British history and I can’t wait to tell her story.”

The Doctor Who star, who announced this morning on Nick Grimshaw’s Radio 1 show that she is leaving the TARDIS, will portray the Queen at the age of 18, when she ascended the throne, through to her romance and marriage to Prince Albert.

Produced by Doctor Who producer Paul Frift and directed by Starter for Ten director Tom Vaughan, the series will begin with a 90-minute episode and be followed by seven one-hour episodes.
There are no details of Coleman’s Victoria co-stars yet but the show will begin filming in the North of England this October.(SOURCE)